WHAT IS UNIFIL GOOD FOR? In anticipation of the expiration--and expected renewal--of the current expanded UNIFIL force in Lebanon, Noah Pollak writes today that:

UNIFIL is the U.N. "peacekeeping" force that has been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978, and it is only one in a long list of such forces whose existence is guaranteed not by success in carrying out its mission, but by the gratifying effect that it has on the consciences of committed internationalists.

Back in May, Pollak laid it out in more detail:

Fine, a person might say — UNIFIL is ineffective. What’s the big deal? The big deal is that UNIFIL is more than an innocuous presence. It contributes to instability along the Israeli border and to the ability of Syria and Iran to co-opt Lebanon by allowing the international community to embrace the comforting delusion that it is doing something. In reality, UNIFIL gives diplomats an excuse to do nothing about Hezbollah’s re-armament, and thus enhances the militia’s ability to thrust Lebanon and Israel into war at a time of its choosing — such as during a U.S. military strike on Iran. Moreover, UNIFIL stands as a disincentive for the Lebanese army to attempt to deploy in the area, it observes Hezbollah daily but does not collect or share intelligence on its activities, and its presence on the ground complicates Israel’s ability to engage the terrorist army in battle. (Hezbollah shrewdly built much of its military infrastructure in close proximity to UNIFIL stations.) The presence of UNIFIL certainly hasn’t prevented violence in the past: Since Operation Litani in 1978, Israel has had to strike at the PLO and then Hezbollah on numerous occasions, including air strikes in 1981, the 1982 invasion and subsequent occupation, the week-long Operation Accountability in 1993, the sixteen-day Operation Grapes of Wrath in 1996, and dozens of smaller incidents scattered in between. And over the course of this long history of terrorist provocation in southern Lebanon, the world’s diplomatic corps has maintained the self-congratulatory fantasy that more extensions of UNIFIL’s mandate will help the region.

Ban Ki-Moon has already come out with a statement that

The swift and effective deployment of UNIFIL has helped to establish a new strategic military and security environment in southern Lebanon.

If he means for Hizbollah, he's 100% right.

Technorati Tag: UNIFIL.