Briefly

UN forces get their war on: The Italians say they’ll fire back if Hezbullah attacks.

Italian forces taking part in the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon would retaliate if attacked by Hizbullah or any other armed group in the tiny Mediterranean country, Italy’s Ambassador to Israel Sandro De Bernardin told Ynetnews on Wednesday.

“Of course they will respond. They have the right of self-defense,” he said.

This is going to be the most interesting UN peacekeeping mission ever, if this is true.

Which of these things is not like the other? So let’s take a look at the lopsided UN action, as always, where Israel is concerned:

ANKARA, Turkey Sep 6, 2006 (AP)— U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrapped up a trip to the Middle East Wednesday with two notable successes: winning Israel’s agreement to lift its blockade of war-ravaged Lebanon and securing a commitment for Turkish troops to join the U.N. peacekeeping force there.

Just hours after Annan called for the lifting of a sea and air blockade, Israel said it would end it Thursday evening. International forces will replace the Israelis at command positions over Lebanese seaports and airports. Israel said the blockade was necessary to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah guerrillas.

Annan on the tail end of 11-day trip to the region also renewed a call for an Israeli troop pullout from Lebanon, calling it “crucial” to peacekeeping.

The U.N. chief also urged Hezbollah militants based in southern Lebanon to disarm.

Right. Urge those terrorists, Kofi! Maybe even write them a strongly-worded letter. That’ll show them!

Once again, Israel bends over and takes it up the ass while her enemies get away with murder. Literally, of course. And the UN—and the world—is complicit.
Keeping watch on this one: I’m waiting for confirmation here.

Passengers on an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal to New York claim that a fellow passenger, an ultra-Orthodox man, was removed from the plane after he began praying, Canadian news site CBC reported.
The airplane was heading toward the runway at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport when eyewitnesses said the Orthodox man began to pray.

According to passenger Yves Faguy, seated nearby:” He was clearly a Hassidic Jew, he had some sort of cover over his head and was reading from a book.He wasn’t exactly praying out loud but he was lurching back and forth. The action didn’t seem to bother anyone.”

Nonetheless, a flight attendant approached the man and told him his praying was making other passengers nervous, CBC said.

“The attendant actually recognized out loud that he wasn’t a Muslim and that she was sorry for the situation but they had to ask him to leave,” Faguy concluded.

We’ll look into this again later.

Oh, please. Can Chipmunk Cheeks get any stupider? Nasrallah says his hideout is so secret even he doesn’t know where it is. And the press buys that crap.

The interview lasted five hours and took place in a modest apartment in an undisclosed location in Lebanon. Nasrallah told his interviewers, Talal Salman and Hussein Ayoub, that he himself does not know his whereabouts. “I’m like you. I’ve been moved up and down dozens of times. I don’t know the place where I am now with you,” he said.

Hey, fathead: I’m not buying the innocent act. But I’m really hoping the IDF managed to infiltrate some agents via those Syrian aid convoys. Your days are numbered, if you ask me, and I’m thinking they’re numbered on the short side.