[Globe and Mail-Canada] Paul Koring - Eradicating Hizballah-land, the Iranian-backed statelet inside politically fragile Lebanon, won't be easy and it certainly won't be "peacekeeping." Diplomatic efforts intensified to shape a military force once the fighting ends. But the vexing questions of force composition and timing remain. The grim litany of UN failures in Lebanon stretches back to the dawn of peacekeeping. A former UN commander in Bosnia, retired Canadian Maj.-Gen. Lewis Mackenzie, warns: "It's a recipe for disaster" unless it's a massive, combat-capable force with a robust mandate coupled to a broader political solution. Mackenzie says the job needs 25,000 well-trained, well-equipped troops and that the UN needs to subcontract the job, perhaps to NATO.
2006-08-11 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive