Monday, August 28, 2006
Whatever success the U.N. Security Council would presume to claim, it cannot be said that Resolution 1701 has effectively addressed the direct cause of the fighting--the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser, 31, and Eldad Regev, 26, by Hezbollah, and the earlier abduction of Gilad Shalit, 19, by Hamas. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for the unconditional release of these soldiers has been ignored. Moreover, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the terrorists have not only seized the soldiers as hostages for political blackmail, they have not allowed the Red Cross to visit them. Their families do not know their physical condition; they have no proof they are even alive.
And so now these families of Ehud, Eldad and Gilad are asking to meet with Kofi Annan. They wish to plead with the secretary-general to use the full weight of his moral authority to mobilize and intensify the efforts of the international community he leads--an influential body that has managed to compel two fierce armies to cease hostilities--to address this flagrant violation of humanitarian law.
On that score, these families are correct: The time has come for Mr. Annan to personally and aggressively intervene, and to insist publicly that, at the minimum, the Red Cross, or his personal humanitarian representatives, be given immediate access to these soldiers.
Will he? It seems unlikely...
Unlikely indeed.
Kofi Annan is at best a clueless anti-Semitic hack, and at worst a malevolent one. Israel should never trust him, nor should the U.S.
Isirota1965: exactly how is he anti-semitic? It seems everyone and anyone is anti-semitic for no reason whatsoever..
Given there were over a thousand people killed in this agression I think the lives of two SOLDIERS (as in people who signed up for killing/war/battle and who killed/did battle) are somewhat insiginficant compared to the hundreds and thousands of civilians on both sides of the border that stand to lose their lives. The UN mission is to get peace negotiated, lives saved and compromises brokered.
In any case he HAS called for them to be released:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=qw1156800244810B253
"Beirut - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday he wanted the two Israeli soldiers whose capture by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters sparked a 34-day war with Israel to be released under Red Cross auspices."
So who's clueless now? He's also called for Israel to stop the sea and air blockade so that aid can get in, oh and all that infrastructure that got bombed to hell.. Or maybe start the cleanup of the worst environmental disaster in the area since the iraq war..
That those two soldiers were widely touted as reason enought to launch this offensive shows a bit of a disregard for the greater good. Perhaps if Israel listened to the UN resolutions in the past (and not had US vetos for all of 'em) then it might be in a position to demand things from the UN.
Ooooooh, Chill is back! Whoopee!
ChillWinston sez: exactly how is he anti-semitic?
ZionistYoungster sez back: By holding Israel to a different standard than those it stands against. By not batting an eyelid when UN troops share flags with Hizbullah. By accusing Israel, outright, of shooting deliberately at UNIFIL men, without any investigation into the matter. By silence over the same relaying intelligence against Israel for Hizbullah. And so on too numerous to mention.
CW: I think the lives of two SOLDIERS (as in people who signed up for killing/war/battle and who killed/did battle) are somewhat insignificant compared to the hundreds and thousands of civilians on both sides of the border that stand to lose their lives.
ZY: The war didn't start just because of the abduction of two soldiers. That was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. The main factor was, in fact, not in the northern border at all, but near the Gaza border: having Kassam rockets shot at our towns, within the internationally-recognized borders, from areas we had fully evacuated for the sake of peace. Tell me how you would like living in northern England with rockets being fired at you from the Scottish border every day. I'm sure you'd do negotiations first. Yeah.
CW: The UN mission is to get peace negotiated, lives saved and compromises brokered.
ZY: Then if they had a boss over them, they'd be fired long ago. It's not even the Middle East--they didn't do jack to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. Trouble is, they're UNaccountable to anyone.
CW: In any case he HAS called for them to be released
ZY: He forgot to say "Please".
CW: Perhaps if Israel listened to the UN resolutions in the past (and not had US vetos for all of 'em) then it might be in a position to demand things from the UN.
ZY: No, it would not. Had we done that, there would be no Israel now. The UN voted for the Jewish state in 1947, but that was long ago, and now people's shame at anti-Semitism has worn off almost everywhere, bringing us to a redux of the 1930's.
In a discussion on Jewish Connection, JewishConnection.com, someone stated that there has been no media coverage on these soldiers at all.
No one is paying attention to the victims, just the politics.