The head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) called Tuesday for the United Nations to enable his force to take "strong measures" in order to enforce UN resolution 1701, which brought about the Monday cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah after more than month of fighting.
"What kind of measures?"
"Strong measures!" | In an interview with Haaretz, Major General Alain Pellegrini urged the Lebanese authorities to take responsibility for the disarmament of Hezbollah in the area close to the Lebanon-Israel border, saying that the responsibility for such a move lies primarily with them. When asked his soldiers would engage an armed Hezbollah activist, Pellegrini said that it was hard for him to answer.
"Sarge, can I shoot this guy?""That's hard for me to answer."
It was possible, he said, but it would depend on the rules of engagement.
That's good. I thought it might depend on a provision of the Sacramento City Charter, but apparently not.
Maybe they could even decide in advance what those rules would be. Wouldn't hurt. | He said that he would prefer that the UNIFIL troops had the ability to employ "strong measures" to enforce the UN resolution.
Pellegrini said he expects an advance force, most likely from France, to arrive in the region next week, in order to bolster the current deployment. Within several ...
OK, as long as that's a firm "several"
... months, he said, another 15,000 troops would be deployed from a number of countries.
An advance force from France? They'll garrison a) Cyprus b) North Beirut and c) the airport. That's it. | On Thursday, the UN is set to host a formal meeting of nations that have expressed an interest in contributing to a beefed-up multinational force in southern Lebanon, and the world body is hopeful that the first announcements of new troops will be made at the meeting. |