The Rome Meeting: Nothing Accomplished

[Annie]

Shocking, just shocking. :shocked:

I watched the comments to the media. I swear, the US may well be getting ready to pull out of UN, at the very least, not kowtowing anymore.
While Kofi was speaking, mentioning how Syria and Iran needed to be involved, Condi actually rolled her eyes and shook her head.

When she was speaking, he was looking at his watch. Pretty weird performances, in a diplomatic setting:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060726/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rice

No agreement on Mideast cease-fire

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago

Talks involving Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and counterparts from other countries bogged down Wednesday in apparent disagreement over what kind of cease-fire would be urged to end the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting.

Rice, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema joined Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora at a news conference. D'Alema said the participants agreed to work "immediately" for a cease-fire and Annan said any solution to the Mideast crisis should involve Iran and Syria.

Rice said the United States favors urgently ending the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting but that there cannot be a return to a status quo of political uncertainty and instability in Lebanon.

"There is much work to do and everyone has a role to play," Rice said.

A diplomat involved with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the ongoing negotiations, said international leaders were struggling to reach agreement on a statement about the violence between Israel and the Hezbollah militia.

Saniora gave an impassioned speech before the news conference that prodded the international leaders to continue working, the source said. The diplomat said the sticking point is language about the terms under which fighting would end.

The source insisted on anonymity because discussions on a conference resolution were still ongoing.

Almost every nation attending the conference in Rome has pressed Rice to call for an immediate end to the fighting on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

But Rice stood her ground in two days of diplomacy in Lebanon and Israel and the West Bank. Rather than a quick fix, she has repeatedly said the region needs enduring solutions, and other U.S. officials have raised doubts about an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in the south of Lebanon.

The Rome meeting of European and moderate Arab officials was to discuss the fighting sparked by the July 12 Hezbollah abduction of two Israeli soldiers. Rice attended a morning meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema before the international conference was set to begin.

When asked if she planned to announce an international force for Lebanon, Rice smiled and wouldn't comment.

In a statement at the start of the conference, Annan called for an immediate cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, calling for Hezbollah to stop its "deliberate targeting of Israeli population centers" and for Israel to end all bombing, blockades and ground operations.

He said "a key stipulation for such a halt in fighting would be that the parties must not, I repeat, must not take advantage of such a pause to conduct offense operations, redeploy or resupply."

And he said an international force will be vital to keeping peace.

 

[dilloduck]

Shocking, just shocking. :shocked:

I watched the comments to the media. I swear, the US may well be getting ready to pull out of UN, at the very least, not kowtowing anymore.
While Kofi was speaking, mentioning how Syria and Iran needed to be involved, Condi actually rolled her eyes and shook her head.

When she was speaking, he was looking at his watch. Pretty weird performances, in a diplomatic setting:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060726/ap_on_re_mi_ea/rice

Way to go Condi !!!
I'm sure she laid down the law to these idiots behind closed doors. I can almost hear Kofi calling her "Uncle Tom".:cof:

 

[Annie]

Way too long, lots of links at site:

http://volokh.com/posts/1153523571.shtml

United Nations an Accomplice in Hezbollah Kidnapping:

After Hezbollah's kidnapping of a pair of Israeli soldiers spurred an Israeli counter-attack, many critics of Israel actions have suggested that the United Nations can serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah. To the contrary, the United Nations has a well-established record of collaboration with Hezbollah in the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been deployed since 1978, not long after Israel first entered Lebanon in pursuit of PLO terrorists. UNIFIL was created pursuant to Security Council Resolution 425, for the purpose of "confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring international peace and security and assisting the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area." Quite obviously UNFIL has utterly failed to achieve the Security Council's objectives, either before or after Israel's 2000 complete withdrawal from Lebanon. One reason is that UNIFIL does not interdict Hezbollah attacks on Israel. Instead, UNIFIL allows Hezbollah to set up positions next to UNFIL units, in effect using UNIFIL as human shields against Israeli counterstrikes. (Aluf Benn, Israel accuses UN of collaborating with Hezbollah," Haaretz, Sept. 11, 2005.)

UNIFIL's most notorious collaboration with terrorists involved the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers, and the subsequent cover-up.

On October 7, 2000, Hezbollah terrorists entered Israel, attacked three Israeli soldiers on Mount Dov, and abducted them Lebanon. The kidnapping was witnessed by several dozen UNIFIL soldiers who stood idle. One of the soldier witnesses described the kidnapping: the terrorists set of an explosive which stunned the Israeli soldiers. Clad in UN uniforms, the terrorists called out, "Come, come, we’ll help you."

The Israeli soldiers approached the men in UN uniforms. Then, a Hezbollah bomb detonated—-apparently prematurely. It wounded the disguised Hezbollah commander, and three Israeli soldiers.

Two other terrorists in U.N. uniforms dragged their Hezbollah commander and the three wounded soldiers into a getaway car.

According an Indian solider in UNIFIL who witnessed the kidnapping, "By this stage, there was a big commotion and dozens of UN soldiers from the Indian brigade came around." The witness stated that the brigade knew that the kidnappers in UN uniform were Hezbollah. One soldiers said that the brigade should arrest the Hezbollah, but the brigade did nothing.

According to the Indian soldier, the UNFIL brigade in the area "could have prevented the kidnapping."

"I’m very sorry about what happened, because we saw what happened," he said. Hezbollah "were wearing our uniforms and it was too bad we didn’t stop them."

It appears that at least four of the UNIFIL "peacekeepers," all from India, has received bribes from Hezbollah in order to assist the kidnapping by helping them get to the kidnapping spot and find the Israeli soldiers. Some of the bribery involved alcohol and Lebanese women....

 

[Rico]

The UN has devolved into an international bitchfest against all things American and a cesspool on anti-semitism. It's corruption is rampant, evident, and unrepentent. It has become a mirror of its image between the wars, the League of Nations. The United States was not a part of that organization and the days of our involvement in the UN may be numbered. Why not go it alone as that is the realpolitic of the situation anyway.