Israel attacked UN post in south Lebanon with precision-guided bomb - UN

[tocqueville]

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - An Israeli air attack on a UN base in south Lebanon that killed four peacekeepers last July involved the use of a precision-guided bomb, the United Nations said Friday.

"The UN patrol base at Khiam was struck by a 500 kg (1,102-pound) precision-guided aerial bomb," a UN statement said after a UN board enquiry submitted its report on the incident to UN chief Kofi Annan.

"The Board of Enquiry notes that the Israeli authorities have accepted full responsibility for the incident and apologized to the UN for what they say was an 'operational level' mistake," it added.

The killing of the four UN observers -- an Austrian, a Canadian, a Finn and a Chinese man -- had drawn strong condemnation by Annan

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060929/wl_mideast_afp/mideastlebanonisraelun

[indepat]

1. Gee, where to the Israelis manufacture their precision-guided-bombs?

[acmavm]

2. So, did that apology resurrect the four dead UN personnel.

Nothing short of that will make up for their war crime.

[furman]

3. Hezbollah only apologizes when they kill Arabs

They celebrate when they kill Jews.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/20/nasrallah.interview/

[Violet_Crumble]

4. This thread is about Israel attacking a UN outpost...

Do you have anything to say about the OP?

[furman]

5. I responded to reponse #2, not to the OP n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

6. And response 2 was about Israel attacking the UN outpost...

The post had zero to do with Hezbollah or Jews....

[acmavm]

7. Try to stay on the same page. Maybe read the article. It's about

Israeli war crimes.

[msmcghee]

8. I read the article. It contained this . .

"The Board of Enquiry notes that the Israeli authorities have accepted full responsibility for the incident and apologized to the UN for what they say was an 'operational level' mistake," it added.

That makes the article also about Israel's apology and certainly within bounds for comment. Try to stay on the same page and maybe read the article before criticizing others who have read the article. Thanks.

[acmavm]

9. An operational level mistake. That would be laughable if it didn't make

one's stomach turn. They used bombs that could be guided to its target and the used them because they didn't want any reports of all their war crimes leaking out.

There was no mention of Hebzollah. Just what everyone has come to expect from the Israelis.

[msmcghee]

10. It's amazing that you can read an article . .

. . online and come to conclusions well beyond the UN who performed a thorough investigation and interviewed witnesses.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Englander]

14. 'Thorough investigation'?

Yet more abuse of language.



'SECRETARY-GENERAL RECEIVES REPORT ON ATTACK THAT KILLED OBSERVERS AT KHIAM, LEBANON

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Board of Inquiry appointed to investigate the incident at Khiam, Lebanon, in which four UN Military Observers were killed, has now submitted its report to the Secretary-General.

UN Patrol Base at Khiam was struck by a 500 kilogram precision-guided aerial bomb and destroyed at 1925 hours on 25 July 2006. The Board of Inquiry notes that the Israeli authorities have accepted full responsibility for the incident and apologized to the United Nations for what they say was an “operational level” mistake. The Board did not have access to operational or tactical level IDF commanders involved in the incident, and was, therefore, unable to determine why the attacks on the UN position were not halted, despite repeated demarches to the Israeli authorities from UN personnel, both in the field and at Headquarters.

The report concludes that all standard operating procedures were followed and no additional actions could have been taken by UN personnel that would have changed the outcome.

The Secretary-General once again pays tribute to the four who gave their lives in the cause of peace, and reiterates his heartfelt condolences to their families.

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10666.doc.htm

[Englander]

13. What's that got to do with the murder of the UN staff?

I'm guessing nothing...

[Scurrilous]

12. U.N. Says Israel Blocked Investigators

<snip>

"Israel refused to give a U.N.-appointed investigation access to the officials who may have been responsible for the bombing of an observation post that killed four unarmed peacekeepers at the height of the conflict with Hezbollah, the United Nations said Friday.

Israel said the bombing of the U.N. peacekeeping post along the Israeli-Lebanese border was a mistake that occurred at the "operational level." The U.N. panel investigating the killings was not allowed to interview commanders at that level to determine what happened, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The statement was delivered shortly after the Board of Inquiry investigating the attack submitted a confidential report with its findings to the U.N. and to the four nations whose observers were killed _ Austria, Canada, China and Finland. The report was not sent to Israel.

Dujarric's statement said it concluded that there was nothing else the United Nations could have done "that would have changed the outcome."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901217.html