UN Lebanon Force Goes on Defensive After Summer Bomb Attacks 

By Gregory Viscusi
September 27, 2007
Bloomberg.com
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Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations troops monitoring the year-old cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah used to patrol southern Lebanon's stony hills on foot, going without helmets as they mingled with local residents in markets and tea shops. 
After two bomb attacks this summer, the peacekeepers now stick to their armored vehicles. They drive without stopping through dusty villages, mostly populated by Shiite Muslims who support Hezbollah. Free time off base is restricted. 
The new defensive posture is hindering the work of the 13,000-strong, 30-nation UN mission. Military experts say it harms the long-term safety of the troops by cutting them off from the local population and makes it easier for Hezbollah to slip weapons back into southern Lebanon, potentially setting the stage for a new war with Israel. 
``When force protection becomes the priority, then the mission is basically over,'' said Timur Goksel, a former adviser to UN forces in Lebanon who teaches at the American University of Beirut. ``If these attacks continue, the mission's at risk.'' 
UN soldiers have been based in the region since 1978, when the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or Unifil, was created to verify an Israeli withdrawal. Israel invaded again in 1982 and withdrew in 2000, after which Unifil was reduced to 2,000 observers. 
South of the Litani 
After another Israeli invasion in the summer of 2006 -- sparked by a Hezbollah attack just inside Israel in which it killed three and abducted two soldiers -- Unifil's mandate was broadened to keep Israeli forces south of the border and armed Hezbollah units north of the Litani River, 30 kilometers (19 miles) away. 
The peacekeepers patrol along with the Lebanese army, which last August entered southern Lebanon for the first time in three decades. 
No one has claimed responsibility for the June 24 car bomb that killed three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers, nor a July 16 attack on a Tanzanian jeep that didn't cause any casualties. The Lebanese army has arrested three residents of a Palestinian refugee camp in connection with the Tanzanian attack; no trial date has been set. 
Louis Caprioli, former deputy anti-terrorism director at France's domestic intelligence service, blames one of Lebanon's myriad small Islamist groups for the attacks. Experts are divided over whether the attackers were acting on their own or on behalf of al-Qaeda, Iran or Syria. They all agree it wasn't Hezbollah. 
`Serious Damage' 
``For Hezbollah, having an enlarged Unifil is good thing,'' said Steven Simon, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. ``If the Israelis come back they'll be better prepared, with better tactics. They'd do serious damage to Hezbollah.'' 
Local residents who welcomed Unifil's arrival say relations have changed since the deaths of the UN troops. ``The soldiers are more wary of the population,'' says Ali Youssef, who runs a restaurant in Naqoura, where Unifil has its headquarters. He says business is down by half. 
The new stance puts Unifil soldiers at risk by isolating them, and makes them less able to prevent Hezbollah weapons from leaking back into south Lebanon, said Andrew Exum, a former U.S. Ranger platoon commander in Afghanistan and Iraq who lived in Lebanon for two years before becoming a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 
Developing Relationships 
``Genuine security depends on getting to know the locals, having coffee with them, developing relationships,'' says Exum. ``Peacekeeping is hanging out in mosques and coffee shops.'' 
The 2,500 Italian soldiers, Unifil's largest contingent, are still carrying out 130 patrols a day, said their commander, Brigadier General Maurizio Fioravanti. 
``We take more precautions, we are more armored than we were before, but the mission hasn't changed,'' he said. He says he still leaves his base every day to meet with local leaders. 
Mark Heller, director of research at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, said Unifil's new stance makes little difference because Hezbollah is re- arming anyway. 
While UN Security Council resolution 1701 called for Hezbollah to disarm, a UN report in June said arms continue to reach its fighters from Syria. Unifil's zone doesn't extend to the Syrian border, though in theory the Lebanese army could ask for support. 
``As long as the primary concern of the Lebanese government is to avoid another civil war, they are not going to do anything to provoke Hezbollah,'' said Heller. 
Rocket Launchers 
Unifil troops have found about 50 Hezbollah bunkers and some used rocket launchers, all predating last year's war, Fioravanti said. His troops haven't encountered armed Hezbollah fighters. 
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah admits his group is rearming, and boasted in a July 20 interview with al-Jazeera television that Hezbollah's missiles can hit any part of Israel. 
Local leaders say Israel is violating the cease-fire too, as its planes fly over the area. The United Nations resolution ``doesn't allow airspace violations, but they happen every day,'' said Ali Bazzi, the 64-year-old Hezbollah mayor of Bent Jbail, the largest town in the south. Fioravanti says he informs UN headquarters of each violation. 
On the ground, a French patrol led by Major Jean-Paul Mannessier has just finished making the rounds of Jouaiya, a village east of Tyre. Before driving away, they apologetically put on helmets and flak jackets. 
To contact the reporter on this story: Gregory Viscusi in Naqoura, Lebanon, at mailto:gviscusi@bloomberg.net gviscusi@bloomberg.net . 
Last Updated: September 26, 2007 17:06 EDT