UN peacekeepers killed in Israeli air strike

[Mentalist]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli air raid in south Lebanon killed four U.N. military observers on Tuesday in an attack which United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan described as "apparently deliberate".


The deaths came on the eve of an international conference in Rome where Arab and some European nations are expected to call for an immediate end to the 14-day-old war over U.S. objections.


Earlier on Tuesday Israel vowed to pursue its war against Hizbollah and establish a no-go zone for the guerrillas in southern Lebanon until an international force arrives.



After meeting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said both agreed that disarming Hizbollah and deploying a foreign force in its place were key to resolving the two-week-old crisis.
A total of 418 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis have been killed in a conflict that erupted after Hizbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid.


U.N. officials said four military observers were killed when an Israeli bomb hit their base in southern Lebanon.


Annan asked Israel to conduct an investigation into the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the post.

More:

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...US-MIDEAST.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-2

 

[Ogami]

Israel was obviously trying to head off sexual abuse by these UN soldiers, as reported in Africa:

UN soldiers told: No sex
11/02/2005 15:03 - (SA)

United Nations - United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been barred from having sex with locals after reports of sexual abuse of girls as young as 13, the United Nations announced.

In a letter to the Security Council, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the "non-fraternisation" policy had been put in place along with a curfew for military contingents and other measures in the African nation.

"We cannot tolerate even one instance of a United Nations peacekeeper victimising the most vulnerable among us," Annan said on Wednesday in his letter. He expressed "personal outrage" at the DRC revelations.

A report last month by the UN's internal watchdog said that personnel in Monuc, as the UN's DRC peace operation is known, had sex with girls in exchange for eggs, packets of milk or cash sums as little as $1.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1661050,00.html

 

[Mentalist]

:roll:


Dude, you're an idiot.


What has this got to do with the price of eggs? Address the story or don't bother because by trying to bring a TOTALLY seperate story that has no connection to those who were just bombed into oblivion by the Israelis you only show yourself up as someone who can't reason himself around all this blatant criminal action by your beloved Israel.

 

[Ogami]

Where were these UN peacekeepers while Israelis were getting bombed on buses, hotels, markets, cafes, etc? That's business as usual to the UN, precisely as you yourself have expressed it. That's okay when Israelis get blown up year after year, for they must deserve it, is the thinking. But let them fight back, and you get mad. Why?

Israel is obviously doing the right thing, judging by the tenor of the opposition.

-Ogami

 

[Mentalist]

Maybe they didn't see what they were bombing again, eh? Those poor Israeli pilots just need to be fitted with glasses. I suppose that's the UN's fault as well.

 

[The Question]

Where were these UN peacekeepers while Israelis were getting bombed on buses, hotels, markets, cafes, etc? That's business as usual to the UN, precisely as you yourself have expressed it. That's okay when Israelis get blown up year after year, for they must deserve it, is the thinking. But let them fight back, and you get mad. Why?

Dude, this "Israel is just fighting back" mantra is getting REAL fucking old. Israel isn't "fighting back" AGAINST THE UN, you snivelling cocksucker.

 

[Ogami]

Asserting what I suck helps your argument how? Heh.

I know that if I were standing around Lebanon wearing a bright blue helmet, I'd reconsider my career options.

 

[Ogami]

This is one of those where you kind of suspected something was off, but sad to confirm:

Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'
Canadian wrote of militia's presence, 'necessity' of bombing
Published: Thursday, July 27, 2006

The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.

Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday.

The strike hit the UN observation post in the southern Lebanese village of El Khiam, killing Canadian Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three others serving as unarmed UN military observers in the area.

Just last week, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener wrote an e-mail about his experiences after nine months in the area, words Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie said are an obvious allusion to Hezbollah tactics.

"What I can tell you is this," he wrote in an e-mail to CTV dated July 18. "We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both (Israeli) artillery and aerial bombing.

"The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity."

Those words, particularly the last sentence, are not-so-veiled language indicating Israeli strikes were aimed at Hezbollah targets near the post, said Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie.

"What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

That would mean Hezbollah was purposely setting up near the UN post, he added. It's a tactic Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie, who was the first UN commander in Sarajevo during the Bosnia civil war, said he's seen in past international missions: Aside from UN posts, fighters would set up near hospitals, mosques and orphanages.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=37278180-a261-421d-84a9-7f94d5fc6d50

 

[bad dog]

HA HA HA , I am glad the dumb bastards from the UN got blown to hell for being where they should not have been.

terrorist buttkissers.

 

[The Question]

"What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

And what the response means, in plain English, is, "The IDF is either too lazy or too cowardly to send ground forces in to extract the hostiles from the neutrals' positions."

 

[Ogami]

You can't be serious, Question. You've got Hezbollah forces deliberately standing around the UN station, using it as a SHIELD, using those men as HUMAN SHIELDS, yet you blame Israel. Well why not, you'd do that regardless, right?

 

[The Question]

You can't be serious, Question. You've got Hezbollah forces deliberately standing around the UN station, using it as a SHIELD, using those men as HUMAN SHIELDS, yet you blame Israel. Well why not, you'd do that regardless, right?

You didn't even read my previous post, did you? Yes, get the Hezbollah shooters out of there -- but don't kill neutrals in the process unless absolutely necessary.

It wasn't absolutely necessary.

 

[Sarek]

Then again, with the sterling reputation and fantastic job that the UN has been doing as of late, 4 is a good start.

 

[The Question]

Then again, with the sterling reputation and fantastic job that the UN has been doing as of late, 4 is a good start.

Well, true, that organization ain't exactly staffed with saints and angels, either. I'm not quite ready to say that means anybody gets no-bag-limit on the poor bobble-headed saps that walk the earth for 'em WITHOUT the raping and pillaging, though.

 

[Ogami]

The Question wrote:

Yes, get the Hezbollah shooters out of there -- but don't kill neutrals in the process unless absolutely necessary.

What is a common tactic for third world losers (as related by Canadian Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie) is to use UN forces as a shield.

As I have said quite rightly in repeated posts, Israel is not playing a game, they are playing for keeps. Hezbollah is fighting a P.R. war, and that's why they're being crushed.

I really can't blame Hezbollah for thinking that way, look at the encouragement you give them personally. They place their soldiers all around a UN position, it gets bombed, and Question blames Israel! Just because Hezbollah fishes you in so easily doesn't mean it's working to win the war.

-Ogami

 

[The Question]

Hezbollah is fighting a P.R. war, and that's why they're being crushed.

No, you fucking moron, that's why Israel is being crushed. Don't you fucking get it? Every time they kill an innocent bystander, they've handed Hezbollah a victory.

 

[Ogami]

The Question wrote:

No, you fucking moron, that's why Israel is being crushed. Don't you fucking get it? Every time they kill an innocent bystander, they've handed Hezbollah a victory.

Excellent. Then by all means, let the crushing of 'Israel' continue.

-Ogami