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Based in Naqoura, Lebanon and commanded by French Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, UNIFIL did indeed accurately report on the Israeli withdrawal -- but did nothing to stop Iran and Syria from turning Hezbollah into the best-armed terrorist force in the world. With an annual budget of $97.5 million and contingents from China, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy and Poland, the blue helmets turned a blind eye to tens of thousands of Iranian weapons, rockets, anti-tank mines and missiles being trucked across the Syrian border into the Biqa' Valley and offloaded from ships in Hezbollah-controlled Lebanese ports like Tyre. A month into a shooting war, the United Nations has yet to condemn Syrian and Iranian complicity in the carnage.

For proponents of "multilateralism," the present conflict has been a missed opportunity to prove that the "international community" could respond in a coherent, forceful manner to a serious threat to peace. Unprovoked aggression, like the Hezbollah attacks that precipitated the present conflict, is after all, the raison d'etre for which the United Nations was created. Yet, the same day the bodies of Iranian Revolutionary Guards were found among dead Hezbollah terrorists, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman proclaimed, "Iran is a stabilizing factor in the Middle East."

Confronted with diplomatic dithering and "globalist" lunacy such as this, the Israelis have belatedly decided to do what could not be done in the corridors of confusion at the United Nations -- to crush Hezbollah's military power. It's likely to be a costly endeavor.

History and war are cruel pedants. Those who know too little of the former are likely to have too much of the latter. The Olmert government has learned the hard lesson that the United Nations can't be counted on in the clinch. Hopefully, as we gauge Iran's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, Washington will come to the same conclusion.

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COPYRIGHT 2005 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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