August 5, 2009
Hezb'allah stockpiles 40,000 rockets
All for self-defense, mind you, according to Richard Beeston and Nicholas Blanford of the Times Online:
Hezbollah's rearming is in the name of resistance against Israel. The real reason, however, probably has more to do with its ally Iran. If Israel carries out its threat to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, the main retaliation is likely to come from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
All sides agreed that the threat was not a bluff. Last month the scale of the Hezbollah build-up was revealed after an explosion at an ammunition bunker in the village of Khirbet Slim, 12 miles from the Israeli border.
Surveillance footage obtained by The Times showed Hezbollah fighters trying to salvage rockets and munitions from the site. Obstructions were placed in the way of Unifil peacekeepers going to investigate.
Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, told the Security Council last month that the explosion amounted to a serious violation of UN Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire and arms ban after the war.
"A number of indications suggest that the depot belonged to Hezbollah and, in contrast to previous discoveries by Unifil and the Lebanese Armed Forces of weapons and ammunition, that it was not abandoned but, rather, actively maintained," he said.
This is surreal. Does anyone recall why the Israelis agreed to a UN cease fire? Because the United Nations promised that its expanded UNIFIL force would interdict any attempt by Syria and Iran to resupply the terrorists.
How's that working out guys?
One might ask what those 13,000 UN troops are doing out there besides getting a suntan. They certainly failed spectacularly in fulfilling their mandate which runs out at the end of this month.
Time to bring the boys home.