LEBANON; THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Dear Editor, WE all know there is a war going on between Hezbollah and Israel. We also all know that this was brought about by Hezbollah forces crossing into Israel, killing three soldiers and kidnapping two more. But things start getting hazy, and in fact even a little crazy once you start to dig into the background of the problem. According to our media, Lebanon is – or rather, was before the present troubles – a democracy with a democratically elected government. We also know for a fact that for over twenty years, the UN has had a 2000–strong observer force in place in Lebanon. So with a large UN force in situ, how was it possible for an army of terrorists, far larger than the Lebanese defence forces, to train, build advanced military bases, and buy (with Iranian money), over a half a billion pounds worth of state–of–the–art military equipment without their knowledge? Surely they must have known and reported this grave development to their masters at the UN headquarters in New York City? I admit there is a UN resolution 1550 demanding that the Lebanese government disarm and dismantle this terrorist army, but it came into force only a few months ago, by which time it was far too late far the smaller, ill–equipped Lebanese army to carry out the UN instruction. But had this UN Observer force say five years ago, warned of the existence of this terrorist cancer growing in the bowels of a country which, let's face it, they were there expressly to look out for, it could have been quite easily excised. So, why didn't it happen? There can only be one of two answers: either, Koffee Anan wasn't told by the UN Observers, or he was told but did not care enough, or for his own Arabist reason chose to do nothing about it. If it is the first of these, then the UN is clearly so inefficient as to not be worth keeping on in its present form. It should be closed down and reconstructed to conform to the needs of the present day. If it was the second alternative, then all the mutterings about the UN being little more than a Muslim soap–opera appear to have substance. This rumour began to circulate after Arafat triggered off his second intifada and Jewish men, women, kids and babies were being blown to bits on a daily basis yet the UN did nothing to bring Arafat to order. And when Hamas started raining rockets down on the tiny town of Sderot – and this after Israel had voluntarily given the Palestinians Gaza, what did we hear from the UN? We heard the sound of silence. So the UN has a lot to answer for and our media should press its hardest to get these answers. It is not an exaggeration to say that the future of world stability may depend on a fair and properly run UN. For it to be little more than a corrupt side–show peopled largely by a bunch of political pimps in the pay (or the thrall) of Islam, is a sure recipe for World War 3. Then we must ask questions about the Lebanese government itself. For example, what kind of a 'democratic' government is it that is prepared to 'govern' whilst knowing that there is a superior force in its midst over whom it has no control? Would Tony Blair be prepared to be Prime Minister over a government knowing that there was a force within Britain over whom he has no authority? Of course not. Neither would any other responsible head of a western government Hezbollah held two seats in the Lebanese cabinet. Yet without even bothering with collective cabinet responsibility and sweeping aside the authority of the Prime Minister and President they gave the go–ahead to their military wing to attack and then declare war on a neighbouring state – bringing with it all the carnage, death and horror we see every day on our TV screens. Given these circumstances, why did not the Lebanese Prime Minister immediately arrest the heads of Hezbollah and charge them with treason? And if he did not feel powerful enough to do that, why did he not beg for international aid to help him restore democratic law and order rather than settle for the chaos that has been visited upon his country? And why at the very least, did he not send a letter of apology to the Israeli government and offer his condolences to those Israelis killed by Hezbollah's illegal and unauthorised actions? Instead, in the most cowardly and obsequious fashion imaginable, he threw in his lot with the terrorists and is now actually trying to justify the taking over of his own government by terrorists – thus turning Lebanon into a terrorist state rather akin to, but not as powerful as, Iran and Syria. And with all these questions begging for answers there is yet another every bit as grave. Most of the weapons supplied to Hezbollah mainly by Syria and Iran were of Russian, and North Korean manufacture. Both of these countries must have known that their advanced weaponry was ending up in terrorist hands and yet they didn't give a damn! This is not the same as the USA supplying Israel because Israel is a legitimate country with a legitimate, recognised government. Hezbollah is an internationally agreed terrorist organisation with no legitimacy whatever. So,why is the UN not demanding that Russia and North Korea – and any other country which has supplied any of the infrastructures of this terrorist army – account for their actions and be warned that together with Iran and Syria they will be held severally responsible to pay not only for the damage done to Lebanon and the Lebanese people but to Israel and the Israelis also? And why have all these questions been carefully ducked by the western media? As I write this, people of all ages and types are dying because of our 'passing by on the other side of the road' until it was too late to stop the carnage. Unless civilised countries are prepared to gather the courage to stand up to international terrorism , which at present they clearly are not (I am thinking of Darfur as well as Lebanon) it may well our own lives and the lives of our parents and/or our children who will have to suffer the frightening horror of having rockets being rained down indiscriminately on our heads.