It sounds promising, but what does the U.N. plan to do differently, when UNIFIL's presence has had quite the opposite effect from curbing Hizballah in any way? Not much, apparently: Just more talk.
"UN chief: Hizbullah must be disbanded," from the Associated Press, October 17:
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that Lebanon will not be a fully sovereign state until Hizbullah, and other militia groups are disbanded.
"Hizbullah's maintenance of separate military assets and infrastructure is a fundamental challenge to the government's attempts to consolidate the sovereignty and authority of the Lebanese state," he wrote in a six-month report to the UN Security Council, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
"In addition, several Palestinian militias operate in the country, inside and outside of refugee camps," said the secretary general, adding that they also undermine the stability of the country and the region. [...]
The secretary-general said that clashes in May and violent incidents since then raised concerns "that groups on all sides of the political spectrum may be re-arming."
In the report, Ban called on Lebanese parties to immediately halt all efforts to acquire and build paramilitary capabilities.
He reiterated that disarming and disbanding all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias should be done through a political dialogue "that will lead to the monopoly on the use of force by the government of Lebanon throughout all of its territory."
"The ultimate purpose of disarmament is the establishment of a strong Lebanese state for all inhabitants of Lebanon," he said.
He reiterated that disarming and disbanding all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias should be done through a political dialogue....
Surely you are joking Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
Buzz this article up
I'm sure this means only that Hizballah must be disbanded, shuffled, and reassembled as something else, with a new name.
"Hizballah must be disbanded"
Yeh, well, good luck with that.
"He reiterated that disarming and disbanding all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias should be done through a political dialogue..."
So then, let's have a cup of tea and discuss things over? Or perhaps if we write a nice letter Hezbollah will leave?
"Political dialogue" is the equivalent of "we'll ask them to leave but in reality, there's really nothing we can do to make them disarm and disband".
The Useless Nations making more useless statements. They spew enough hot air to supply a Balloon fest. A really really big one.
Just a report,just a few concerns, just a few suggestions, but no teeth just words---next article thank you.
"UN chief: Hizbullah must be disbanded"
Sure, and we must end hunger, eliminate poverty, defend human rights, keep the peace, yada, yada, yada...
A meaningless statement by a toothless organization that is the terrorists' friend, accomplice, legitimizer and enabler!
This dicision is eight years too late. Back in 2000 when the Israelis got out of Lebanon, Hizbollah military power was one fiftyth (1/50) or even one hundredth (1/100) of what they are today and their military existence became obsolete, that was the right time to disband Hizbollah.
In the last eight years, the UN has been watching Hizbollah military power doubling every year. Today, they are at least one hundred times more powerful than they were back in 2000.
Why disband Hizbollah now? Let's wait another ten years or so and dicide then.
Disarming Hezbollah through a political dialogue? The UN couldn't disarm my grandmother.