Call It Like It Is
Here is the government of Canada, finally, standing up, accounting for its presence on the world stage, making it clear that the collective conscience of the country is arrayed against those factions in the world that work so hard at making the world more unstable day by day. Here is Canada, through the words of its Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, advising Syria and Iran that their malicious interference in the Middle East will not be brooked.There is mounting evidence that Syria and Iran are conspiring and assisting their proxies in a plan to overthrow the legitimate, democratically-elected government of Lebanon. So that Syria may be enabled to continue milking Lebanon of its resources, and Iran can control the country through the political wing of the Iranian-sponsored and trained terrorist-jihadist Hezbollah.
The "Taliban on steroids" is what Peter MacKay termed Hezbollah. "We saw that Hezbollah are a terrorist organization armed to the teeth" Mr. MacKay told reporters when asked about White House spokesman Tony Snow's assertion that Syria and Iran are preparing to unseat the current government of Lebanon.
There is news coming out of Lebanon, confirmed by the United Nations that weapons smuggling from Syria into Lebanon continues, despite the UN-brokered agreement that halted the recent Israeli-Hezbollah-Lebanon war - that Israel would withdraw on a number of conditions; that Hezbollah be disarmed, that UNIFIL patrol the borders between Israel and Lebanon, Lebanon and Syria to ensure that no further armaments be made available to Hezbollah, and no further rockets be fired from Lebanon into Israel.
UNIFIL, in fear for its safety, does not patrol after dark, according to a German report. Nor do they appear to venture far from their posts. They have no way of knowing what passes over the border, nor whether armaments are being stockpiled by Hezbollah. Terrorists feel free to roam about at night undaunted by the presence of UNIFIL troops who do not appear to challenge them, according to a report by the German newspaper, Der Spiegel.
Spanish UNIFIL spokesperson Richard Ortax admitted to Der Spiegel that no patrols are carried out at night "because of the danger involved. UNIFIL commanders assert their function is to "observe changes in the behaviour of the local population", a puzzling assertion. A junior UNIFIL officer informed Der Spiegel he was satisfied his battalion had left its camp only once. "It's absurd", he said, "we landed here and set up our tent city, but since then left the camp only to drive around to make sure we're seen." This is in complete accord with the tradition of UNIFIL inaction. The United Nations has itself admitted Syria was still smuggling arms to Hezbollah, actions which neither UNIFIL nor the Lebanese army have any intentions of stopping.
In response, Israel has maintained overflights in the region to enable it to monitor and discourage the smuggling, yet UNIFIL officials condemn the continued Israeli manoeuvres, and the Lebanese army attempted to shoot down Israeli fighter jets on Tuesday. France and the European Union accuse Israel of violating Resolution 1701 with its flights over Lebanon.
The UN Security Council "notes with regret that non-Lebanese militias" in the country hadn't been disbanded or disarmed, alluding to Hezbollah. Following that meeting the UN envoy to the region, Terje Roed-Larsen admitted that Syria was actively smuggling weapons into Lebanon, saying further that Lebanese government officials "have stated publicly and in conversations with us that there have been arms coming across the border into Lebanon." Syria, he further points out, doesn't deny the flow of weapons, claiming they're not dispatching them. Nor does the UN admit responsibility for the smuggling, insisting that UN troops had not been asked by the Lebanese army to monitor the border.
So where in all of this is a commitment to keep the peace? Rather the unspoken agreement between an unholy triumvirate comprised of Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, is to buy time and continue to stock arms until such time as it's deemed fit to completely destabilize the government of Lebanon, too shell-shocked to itself take any self-saving initiative, and then to move on to its intended target, the State of Israel.
Time and past time to call it like it is. To demand an end to the charade. To threaten, with full intent to follow through, intervention as and when required to ensure the safety of Lebanon and its non-Shiite population, as well as that of Israel and its mixed population of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, November 02, 2006
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