Real Peacekeepers

So much for my rose tinted wish-list on who should keep the peace in Lebanon.

The Economist weighs in on the nature of the peacekeeping force:

Behind the scenes, France is emerging as the lead nation in the scheme (see article). Turkey, which has longstanding relations with Israel, may be a leading contributor too, putting a Muslim face on the peacekeeping force.

So a new UN force in Lebanon may risk looking like a Frankenstein’s monster, with French leadership, a mandate from the UN, Muslim legitimacy from Turkey, logistical support from NATO, and money and diplomatic backing from the United States and Britain. In any event, a plan has yet to be agreed that would either disarm Hizbullah or fold its militia into Lebanon’s official army. No country sounds keen to tell its troops to fire on Hizbullah if it disobeys. A UN official says that this question must be settled before an international force can be agreed upon.

Two comments:

I think this whole “Moslem Legitimacy” that the Turkish Army supposedly grants the force is a farce. Doesn’t everyone know that the Turkish army is the upholder of the secular regime in Turkey? The Turkish army protects Turkish nationalism by heavy-handedly suppressing all signs of religiosity in public offices. How are they supposed to grant the peacekeepers so-called Moslem legitimacy? The Turks can come but stop insulting our intelligence.

Don’t mess with the French. The French might have a reputation for fine wine and sophisticated cuisine, but they are ruthless on the peacekeeping front.
The French peacekeepers are preventing the two parts of Ivory Coast (The Northern Moslems and the Southern Christians) from getting at each other’s throats (something similar to what it would be required to do in Lebanon). When an Ivorian bomber “accidentally” killed nine French soldiers, the peacekeepers bombed and destroyed the entire Ivorian Air-force.

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