On the U.N.:

Consider the following:


A document sent from UN Headquarters to the Italian Defense Ministry regarding the jurisdiction of the multinational force in Lebanon was published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. It was written that the main objective of the soldiers will not be disarming Hizballah, but rehabilitating Lebanon from the war's damage and keeping order. The soldiers will only be permitted to open fire "in a manner befitting of the need in response to an emergency situation." ( Ynet News)
See also UNIFIL Troops Permitted to Open Fire on Armed Hizballah Militants - Shlomo Shamir and Yoav Stern (Ha'aretz)

Taken with several reports of the unwillingness of European countries to place their troops in a situation where they might endure anything approaching a splinter (let alone violent encounters with a blood-thirsty Islamist terrorist group like Hezbollah), is it any wonder that the United Nations cease-fire is likely to vanish like a fart in the wind? If you disagree, have your head checked.

~JDS