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Thursday, July 27, 2006
What's the UN doing in the Mideast? (video)
By the sounds of it, Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, the Canadian peacekeeper who was killed in Israel's mistaken bombing of a UN observer post on Tuesday, was an honourable and brave man. He was also, according to e-mails sent home, aware of the fact that Hezbollah was deliberately "running around" near his UN camp, using it either as a "shield," or, just as likely, as a means of drawing Israeli fire in a calculation that dead peacekeepers would only further isolate Israel.
Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that terrorists have exploited the UN in the Mideast. At least this time, it's safe to say that Hess-von Kruedener and his colleagues were unwittingly used by Hezbollah. Oftentimes, UN workers are actually complicit in aiding and abetting the violence. You'll see what I mean when you watch this startling video of a UN ambulance being used as a transport by Palestinian terrorists during a firefight. Wait till the last third of the video, and you'll find yourself asking, exactly what is the UN up to in the Mideast, anyway?
Posted by Kevin Libin on July 27, 2006 | Permalink
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Comments
I rest my case about the U.N. being a big part of the problem. Books have been written concerning a lot of these examples. One excellent book on the "Palestinian refugee" fraud is "From Time Immemorial" by Joan Peters with the sub-title "The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict Over Palestine". She based her research on existing historical and U.N. documents and did an excellent job. As she states at the beginning when she began her research she had bought into the Arab propaganda believing they were the oppressed and the Jews/Israelis were the oppressers. She was forced to change her views as a result of the facts discovered.
Posted by: Alain | 2006-07-28 12:36:30 AM
Regarding Major Paeta. The prime minister asked two question about the death.
1. Why was the UN post bombed?
2. Why did unarmed observers stay in a war zone?
I guess we have a pretty good idea of the answer to #1, (although an official response is still needed.)
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/007636.php
We're still waiting on an answer to #2.
Posted by: Pete E | 2006-07-28 2:04:26 AM
A little context would be nice -
Let's say you're an unarmed ambulance driver when half a dozen men, armed with automatics and fleeing for their lives, reach your vehicle. Do you :
a) duck down, so as not to be shot and carjacked, floor it and try to escape ( in reverse ) through those narrow streets
b) hand over the keys
You can't rule out that one of the men pointed his weapon and said " move over I'm driving" becasue it's not shown.
Posted by: Nbob | 2006-07-28 2:06:51 AM
Major Paeta is missing, right?
Hizbullah probably kidnapped him.
Posted by: fw | 2006-07-28 2:24:51 AM
I worked for the British Red Cross when word first reached us, years ago, of Palestinians using Red Cross ambulances for transport of weaponry. We were, of course, furious because this imperils both the practice and the concept of neutrality which is the only one on which the Red Cross can hope to function properly and humanely in violent situations. Of course, there is always the possibility of drivers being threatened by terrorists and their vehicles commandeered but I don't recall Israeli forces ever doing this. When I consider the gross intolerance which is at the root of Moslem demands for a "Red Crescent" rather than the "Red Cross" to be employed in their lands and their attempts to prevent the Star of David being, just as "reasonably" employed by the Israeli section of the worldwide Red Cross organisation, I think we should also wonder if there are not some 'useful fools' amongst ambulance staff.
Posted by: Centurion | 2006-07-28 3:00:36 AM
Peat E
Why was the UN bombed ?
My guess is that the investigation might turn out to show that - while the post was not intentionally targeted it was intentionally part of the targeting.
It was probably one point on the vector or triangulation used to guide the jet or bomb in to the real target. Somewhere along the line someone got the math wrong and a reference point became the target. From 10,000 ft you couldn't tell the difference between the post and a bunker - the pilot would have been going on the numbers given him.
Posted by: Nbob | 2006-07-28 3:02:57 AM
Nbob is right in my opinion up to a point. The IDF use the US made GBU 28 Laser Guided Bomb in their attacks on terrorist positions. The laser will hone on a signal "painted" on the traget, in the case of the UN site however, I think the UN "Observer" from China (PRC) was using an electronic device to monitor IDF aircraft signals
(which they did in Bosnia and Gaza) and the GBU28
read the signal and conformed. UN should have closed the Post years ago in any event. Meanwhile
the munitions sent by IRAN via Syria to Hezbollah
come from China (PRC) and have for years. Meanwhile DEBKA File Tel Aviv confirms that Hezbollah has received a long range Missile from IRAN which they intend to use against central Israel this weekend. MacLeod
Posted by: Jack Macleod | 2006-07-28 3:50:34 AM
fw: It's not out of the realm of possibility, his death has not been confirmed.
Posted by: Liz J | 2006-07-28 5:42:58 AM
Well, the video speaks for itself. After reading this mornings TorontoStar it should be manditory viewing for the entire staff of that paper. After the viewing they should all get a test. Can you see? can you hear? I won't ask can you write, that would be asking to much
Posted by: mel wilde | 2006-07-28 8:21:32 AM
Terrorists respect nothing. They are subhumans and should be treated as such.
It was UN responsibility to provide for the security of its personnel. And who is CEO of UN?
Add this to oil for food scandal etc etc..
Posted by: Rémi Houle | 2006-07-28 8:44:21 AM
The United Nations is supporting the fascists against Israel because the Arab/Islamic countries have practically taken over the UN bureaucracy - is this news to some people? Do they close their ears whenever a UN 'human rights' organization issues a press release?
The fascists control what was once envisioned as the premiere organization for Western ideals of universal human rights and individual freedoms - and turned it into a mockery of rights and freedoms. Yet liberals continue to support this evil, and so it results in even greater human suffering. Ignorance.
Posted by: philanthropist | 2006-07-28 9:07:06 AM
philanthropist,
This is why we must turn away from the UN, withold our tax dollars, and place more into an org, that better represents our interests, such as NATO.
I have no faith in the UN. The ideals that it had at the beginning, were good, and are still good. But what this organizations has become, is a vehicle for the Caliphate!
Posted by: Lady | 2006-07-28 9:31:41 AM
Does anyone have a photo of the outpost prior to the recent incident?
I've seen some aerial images of the terrain, at Belmont Club, but these did not include detail of the actual outpost itself.
My guess is that there was a lot of crossfire during an extended period of time at the post. That is probably because its position would have made an amazingly useful vantage point that for more than launching rockets.
On the other hand, if there were fortifications very close by -- with the traffic of Hezbollah fighters in and out and about -- it would become a prime target prior to the IDF deploying boots on the ground.
By this I mean that even if on that day there was no missiles fired by the Hezbollah, the fact that it was a stronghold would have made it a continual target. Without a ground inspection, it would be hard to confirm the primary target had been destroyed. So any activity by Hezbollah in the area would suggest the target remained in play.
That target could have been a munitions cache. It could have been a bunker. It could have been a lookout point for coordinating other activities.
To make a better judgement, based on what the IDF unit in the field made their judgement on, we need more information about that outpost prior to hostilities, during the weeks leading up to the incident, and now after the incident.
I'd be interested to know if there were Hezbollah casualties at the site -- not just on the day of the incident but before and afterwards. Is the vantage point still in contention? And so forth.
Posted by: F. Rottles | 2006-07-28 4:24:44 PM
Rottles,
The terrorists will not release the numbers of their casualties, so all we have are the figures that have been released from Israel.
Posted by: Lady | 2006-07-28 5:36:26 PM
[Hi, Lady. Please use "F. Rottles". No biggie, but it is my name, afterall.]
Checkout this preliminary news report from Time:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1220278,00.html
Yeh, I suppose we will have to wait for that ground inspection to get some better idea of numbers.
Time reports that the outpost "consisted of a three-story whitewashed building with a bomb shelter" and that this "was only about 100 yards from a former South Lebanese Army prison that now serves as a Hizballah-run museum."
Nothing that Hizbollah maintains is sole-purpose. There is always a second military purpose to all locations. The is at least one other former prison that has been used today as a bunker for Hezbollah fighters. This "museum" sounds like a likely candidate for dual-purpose.
Also, Time reports that, according to an unamed Israeli senior military officer, "an army spotter saw Hizballah firing from an area near the U.N. building."
However the UN observers were observing from inside the outpost. They may not have seen the Hezbollah if they were tight to the building or if they were near the "museum".
Also, "UNIFIL insists there were no reports of Hizballah firing Katyusha rockets from the vicinity of observers' position, and that there was no obvious target for the Israelis that was discernible to UNIFIL."
At 1:20 pm that Tuesday the 4 observers went down into their bomb shelter because of the aerial bombing and artillery shelling -- which came as fell within a 300 yard radius of the post. So they were no longer observing during the 6 hours up to the two aerial bombs that hit the outpost.
This would mean that during those 6 hours there may have been Hezbollah present but unbeknownst to the men in the bomb shelter. Perhaps there were other UNIFIL observers at other vantage points. Certainly, there appears to have been several IDF and IAF eyes on the scene.
I think I've summarized the report accurately ...
Posted by: F. Rottles | 2006-07-28 8:07:58 PM
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