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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Annan's Claims On Casualties May Unravel |
| 2006-07-27 |
| by Benny Avni, New York Sun An apparent discrepancy in the portrayal of events surrounding the deaths of four unarmed U.N. observers in Lebanon threatens to unravel Secretary-General Annan's initial accusation that Israel "deliberately" targeted the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. A Canadian U.N. observer, one of four killed at a UNIFIL position near the southern Lebanese town of Khiyam on Tuesday, sent an e-mail to his former commander, a Canadian retired major-general, Lewis MacKenzie, in which he wrote that Hezbollah fighters were "all over" the U.N. position, Mr. MacKenzie said. Hezbollah troops, not the United Nations, were Israel's target, the deceased observer wrote. . . . Based on reporting by the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Mr. Annan alleged in Rome Tuesday that the incident was an apparent "deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a U.N. Observer post in southern Lebanon." Although Mr. Annan began to backtrack yesterday, his spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, said he stood by the accusation. Mr. MacKenzie, who after retiring from the Canadian military became a politician, had a very different interpretation. "I happen to know" the now-deceased Canadian U.N. observer, Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, Mr. MacKenzie told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in a radio interview yesterday. "We've received e-mails from him a few days ago and he was describing the fact that he was taking fire within, in one case, three meters of his position ‘for tactical necessity — not being targeted,'" Mr. MacKenzie said he wrote. In one such e-mail, obtained by The New York Sun, Hess-von Kruedener wrote about heavy IDF artillery and aerial bombardment "within 2 meters of our position." The Israeli shooting, he added, "has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity." The correspondence between the trooper and former commander amounted to "veiled speech in the military," Mr. MacKenzie, who once commanded the U.N. troops in Bosnia, told the CBC. "What he was telling us was Hezbollah fighters were all over his position and the IDF were targeting them, and that's a favorite trick by people who don't have representation in the U.N. They use the U.N. as shields knowing that they cannot be punished for it." |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #14 Note: this fax is called "the genocide fax". It was made public (in march or april 1993) by an anonymous worker of the UN who had read it and had been disgusted by Kofi Annan decision to keep it secret. |
| Posted by: leroidavid 2006-07-27 23:08 |
| #13 Kofi Annan has constantly been lying, and, as says JohnQC, getting people killed. In 1993, Kofi Annan was the Head of the UN peacekeepers; he received a fax from Rwanda, sent to him by the belgian general who was leading the UN troops in this country, telling him that a source in the Hutus had just describe to him how the Hutus were training death squads to exterminate the Tutsis, and that this genocide was planned to begin before two months. The brave Kofi phoned the Hutus, asking if this was true (and probably getting the source killed), and then asked the UN to take away the peacekeepers; the UN troops began to leave, and the genocide started: 1.100.000 Tutsis were exterminated by the Hutus. Great job, Mr Kofi Annan. |
| Posted by: leroidavid 2006-07-27 21:43 |
| #12 Kofi is the mouthpiece of the same ole communism, he is at the center of the Internationals center, which post saddam, has moved to the u n. Why is any one surprised. hugo is kissing putins ring, gleeful in all his glory as dictator moving up the charts....what a sham world government is. the cold war is back in all its regalia, vlad the impaler with all that looted oil money is running the show....he's got the cabal of the u n in his pocket. Meanwhile democrat and republicanss stonewall and cajole the public; committed as they are to the hegemony of servitude... We need a New N...not the same ole u n where apointed socialist hacks find no microphones at the tables of thier largess. |
| Posted by: Uleamp Glert9027 2006-07-27 21:23 |
| #11 Annan is a dangerous blithering idiot. He gets people killed. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-07-27 21:09 |
| #10 SPOD: Why were they there when their is no peace to be kept? Funny how UN troops always get out of the way when Arab countries are preparing to invade Israel, but never when Israel is preparing to invade an Arab country. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2006-07-27 20:13 |
| #9 Commanders are responsible for their troopps. Kofi is the commander of these UN troops. (1)Why were they there when their is no peace to be kept? (2)The officers in charge on the ground knew what was going on yet still sent these fellow out of be "observers." What in the world is up with that? The should have been in barracks packing to leave for a safe location. The Kofi, the UN, and Hizb'allah have much to answer for but don't hold your breath. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-07-27 19:30 |
| #8 A diplomatic bomb dropped on Turtle Bay. If Kofi cannot depend on Canada to protect the UN's left flank, then they are in real trouble. Immediate response is to shoot the messenger. MONTREAL (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's reaction to the death of a Canadian peacekeeper in Lebanon was irresponsible and risks making Canada irrelevant in the region, interim Liberal leader Bill Graham said Thursday. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/07/27/1705461-cp.html Sorry Bill. Your UN centered approach has been irrelevant for years. |
| Posted by: john 2006-07-27 19:00 |
| #7 He was voted in for one reason and one reason only, he can be controlled like a trained dog. You can bet your bottom dollar that Bush&Co. already have few choices ready to go for January. Vacation time for the Islamic countries at the U.N. is over, after January. Clinton in a political hack move, today stated from Canada "It's important for us to get some kind of ceasefire now." He says that he would pick a rifle and die for Israel, but he doesn't want to allow Israel to pick up a rifle to defend themselves. Like a dog on a bone, he wants that top U.N. job. Now, that he is undermining Bush, on foreign soil of all places, on Bush's Israel policy, he can forget about that U.N. job. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2006-07-27 18:38 |
| #6 The investigation being asked for by the Canadian PM is why were these UN assets in the middle of the battlefield in the first place, in light of the fact that it is well known tactic to dare the other side to shoot at you while hiding behind the UN. |
| Posted by: Capsu 78 2006-07-27 18:27 |
| #5 In my mind, I don't think Kofi cares as much about the truth of a situation as much as he cares about positioning himself to keep his job. The thing that makes most sense would be he has other scams going to divert $$$ into his interests' pockets. The guy is incompetant at running the UN and drags his feet when it comes to investigating and prosecuting scandal. The only thing he manages to accomplish is to survive in his position. Obviously there is an accountability problem. The time is long overdue to replace him with someone less corrupt, but there doesn't seem to be a mechanism. As far as I'm concerned, one good-sized screwup at the UN and you're out. This guy has had several. |
| Posted by: gorb 2006-07-27 17:18 |
| #4 May Unravel? They were never ravelled to begin with. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-07-27 16:42 |
| #3 No, resist to the Dark Side! Fight! Though I agree sometimes it's nice letting his lowest instincts have a whiff of fresh air. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-07-27 16:41 |
| #2 Kofi is pushing me towards the sinktrap. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-27 16:39 |
| #1 Just how aware of this was Kofi? Is this part of the Bribes for Blood program? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-27 16:22 |