Annan in Lebanon

So Koffi is blathering about Lebanon. I'm certain he was somewhat worried whent he Lebanese booed him, but he didn't have any real fears since his stance on Hezbollah was so lame that it should have been viewed as off-handed support for their cause.

After talks with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, the U.N. chief faulted both Israel and Hezbollah for not living up to key sections of the cease-fire resolution, and warned that fighting could resume if the parties did not abide by the full resolution.

"Without the full implementation of resolution 1701, I fear the risk is great for renewal of hostilities," he said.

He also toured a bombed-out neighborhood in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, where hundreds of residents booed him as he toured the ruins.

Meanwhile, an Italian fleet gathered off southern Italy on Tuesday to carry troops and aircraft to south Lebanon.

Three landing platform dock ships also were departing the port of Brindisi, and a small frigate already in Cyprus was scheduled to join the Italian mission, the Defense Ministry said.

Italy on Monday approved sending 2,500 troops, the largest national contingent so far. The plan now goes to Parliament for approval, but the ships were to sail ahead of the vote and reach the coast of Lebanon on Friday.

The peacekeeping force was to grow to 15,000, according to the Aug. 11 U.N. cease-fire resolution that halted fighting between Israel and Hezbollah three days later.

Funny though that the reporting on this bit is so rare in the MSM. I caught it at ThreatsWatch.org.

IDF forces from the Golani Brigade blasted open a Hizbullah bunker overnight Saturday some 400 meters from the security fence near Rosh Hanikra, it was reported on Sunday. The bunker was discovered a mere stone's throw from a UN post.

According to Lt.-Col. Jassem Elian, a senior officer in the Golani Brigade, "Hizbullah dug a 40-meter by two-kilometer pit, in which they built dozens of outposts."

Elian added that the bunker had "shooting positions of poured concrete," and that the combat posts inside were equipped with phone lines, showers, toilets, air ducts, and emergency exits, as well as logistical paraphernalia for Hizbullah.

ThreatsWatch also had this lovely link to The WeeklyStandard piece on the UN posting IDF troop movements during the Lebanese action.

DURING THE RECENT month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel, U.N. "peacekeeping" forces made a startling contribution: They openly published daily real-time intelligence, of obvious usefulness to Hezbollah, on the location, equipment, and force structure of Israeli troops in Lebanon.

UNIFIL--the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a nearly 2,000-man blue-helmet contingent that has been present on the Lebanon-Israel border since 1978--is officially neutral. Yet, throughout the recent war, it posted on its website for all to see precise information about the movements of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers and the nature of their weaponry and materiel, even specifying the placement of IDF safety structures within hours of their construction. New information was sometimes only 30 minutes old when it was posted, and never more than 24 hours old.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL posted not a single item of specific intelligence regarding Hezbollah forces. Statements on the order of Hezbollah "fired rockets in large numbers from various locations" and Hezbollah's rockets "were fired in significantly larger numbers from various locations" are as precise as its coverage of the other side ever got.

The ThreatsWatch piece has a link to the UNIFIL press releases and you can read their intelligence reports for Hezbollah yourself.

This partiality is inconsistent not only with UNIFIL's mission but also with its own stated policies. In a telling incident just a few years back, UNIFIL vigorously insisted on its "neutrality"--at Israel's expense.

Uh. Yeah. Neutral. If you believe that, I have a great deal on a bridge in Brooklyn for you.

Go read the Weekly Standard and ThreatsWatch pieces. They definitely won't make you pleased with the UN's involvement in Lebanon. Nor anywhere else for that matter.