During Lebanese Ambush, Some UNIFIL Members Did Not Even Bother To Stick Around (Updated)

There can be no doubt that UNIFIL has a difficult job--keeping the peace in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel. First, there is the danger involved in dealing with the Hezbollah terrorist group. In addition, UNIFIL also has to deal with the fact that Hezbollah routinely disregards the terms of Resolution 1701 which set the terms for ending the war in 2006, hiding weapons in civlian areas--as Israel has clearly documented.

But if you are a member of the UNFIL force, you have a job to do and are expected to do it.

In the case of the Lebanese ambush of the IDF, they didn't.
Some of them stand to the side--

And then there were others who got out of there as fast as they could:

Lebanese media have lashed out at the UN Interim Force, which includes Indonesian soldiers, in Lebanon, calling it an “impotent” bystander after a deadly border skirmish between Lebanese and Israeli forces.

“The impotent international forces beat a retreat, left the place of combat and watched the unfolding events from afar,” said the daily As-Safir, which is close to the Shiite movement Hezbollah.

...“Why did UNIFIL not help the army, at least by offering first aid?” it questioned, citing senior sources involved in calming the border tension.

It said an organization such as UNIFIL was “obliged to deal with the evacuation of casualties.”

On Tuesday, Hezbollah-run Al-Manar television aired images of two Indonesian soldiers, presumably from UNIFIL, leaving the site of the skirmish in a shared taxi.

New TV, which also sympathizes with Hezbollah, spoke of the “escape” of UNIFIL soldiers.

Another source confirmed:

The Indonesian troops had attempted to stop any escalation in the fighting, but when the exchanges grew heavy, they were ordered to retreat or find cover. Hizbollah’s Al Manar television showed images on Tuesday night of stunned and dehydrated Indonesian peacekeepers being attended to by local medics and helped into a taxi, in a village near the fighting.

And Israellycool has a video of the UNIFIL members in town.

UNIFIL has failed to stop Hezbollah from rearming itself.
UNIFIL failed to play a preventative role in the Lebanese ambush that resulted in the death of an Israeli commander

Just what is UNIFIL doing there?

UPDATE: Well, if you really want to know--I'll tell you. There is what the UNIFIL force was supposed to be able to do, and then what is ended up being limited to doing.

Originally:

The new force is expected to operate under Article 7 of the UN Charter, granting it enforcement authority. Its troops will be authorized to open fire in order to carry out Security Council resolutions, not just in self-defense. UNIFIL, whose mandate is based on Article 6 of the UN Charter, has no such authority. Its role is one of observing and reporting.

But in the end:

The resolution authorises the UN force, known by its acronym Unifil, to take "all necessary action" to stop the area it patrols from being using for any kind of hostile activities.

But in a significant concession to the Lebanese it will still have a traditional peacekeeping mandate, under Chapter 6 of the UN charter.

A Chapter 7 mandate, which Israel had wanted, allows troops to use military force to enforce peace.

So while I am sympathetic to the Lebanese media who decry the impotence of UNIFIL--UNIFIL has exactly the mandate that Lebanon (and Hezbollah) picked for it.

Hat tip: Mere Rhetoric

Technorati Tag: Lebanon and UNIFIL and Hezbollah.