The UN has been dysfunctional for years. And no state ultimately wants to see it work, because it involves surrendering some form of sovereignty.

The UN is well past its used by date. The dream is over.

http://weekbyweek7.blogspot.com/

A Few Questions for Kofi Annan
By John E. Carey
July 26, 2006

As often occurs in the tricky world of international relations, President George Bush and the United States find themselves viewed by the rest of the world as supporting the wanton killing of innocent civilians right now.

And Hezbollah is to blame.

Using the most despicable trick known to man: hiding behind innocent civilians including women and children, the terrorists Hezbollah nation (you heard me right: “nation”) has found a way to antagonize Israel to such a point that the Israeli’s feel compelled to respond. And when they do respond with F-16s armed with precision guided weapons, innocents get killed.

So then Hezbollah drags mindless newsmen and women to the scene and screams, “Look what the bloodthirsty Jews are doing to us!!”

And the mindless news people even get a big time ally: Kofi Annan of the UN, to agree. Without the benefit of any investigation, today the leader of the world’s largest peace-loving organization, accused a sovereign member state of murdering peacekeepers intentionally. I find that deplorable.

Then we see a stampede of everyone who likes to knife the United States speaking out: like Jacque Chirac of France saying the Israeli response is “not proportional.” Hey, I’d like to see the French reaction to angry Arabs shooting unguided rockets into downtown Paris. In fact, we know exactly the French reaction when unhappy Arabs merely speak out about unemployment in France: they face hundreds of armed policemen.

Hezbollah brilliantly antagonized Israel to such a point that the Israeli’s sent their defense forces into Lebanon in an effort to get the Hezbollah to stop shooting rockets into Israel: rockets that have no guidance systems and kill indiscriminately.

So Israel, using many precision, laser guided bombs and other high tech equipments supplied by the United States, has gone into Lebanon. And much of the world blames, who else? The United States.

Well, I don’t mind saying I blame the Hezbollah, their backers in Syria and Iran, and the United Nations.

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http://peace-and-freedom.blogspot.com/

Yes they accidentally hit the UN post over 30 times over six hours with their precision guided bombs. Grow up a proper peace keeping force could have been in there years ago if the US didn’t keep using their veto. Religious nutters on all three sides are keeping this conflict going.

No fairminded person is criticising Israel for defending its citizens. But there are ways, and there are ways. It's the massive overkill that is drawing world criticism -- and exponentially deepening Palestinian and Lebanese resentment

Overkill? You have got to be joking.

Israel has remakably managed to defend itself, although unsuccessfully so far against terrorist incursions and rockets, with its precision guided munitions, against a foe that hides in amongst innocent civilians. This so called overkill has somehow mirraculously managed to keep the civilian death rate to below 400 in a period lasting over two weeks.

Where 3/4 of a million people have been displaced by the conflict, this can only be seen as extrodinary dilligence and care that has been place on avoiding collateral damage by the IDF.

Without Israels massive civil defence infrastructure, one wonders what the death-toll of Israeli's would be like.

If you don't want to be mauled by a bear, don't poke and prod it.

But Israel should look ahead. It hasn't visibly damaged Hezbollah, Syria, or Iran in any profound way--indeed, the incursion has acted as a recruiting drive for the Arab extremists. It has focused the Lebanese government on the obligation to control Hezbollah, but removed any capability to carry that out. It has killed >400 civilians, including UN observers, visiting Canadians, ambulance passengers, and other politically sensitive targets. And the kidnapped soldiers are no closer to coming home.

Some lashing out by Israel was perhaps inevitable. But continuation of it, with no achievable strategic or tactical objective in sight, is both unwise and inhumane.