By Andrew L. Jaffee

After a so-so, 34-day military campaign against Hezbollah terrorists, a U.N. ceasefire agreement, and a partial withdrawal from Lebanon, Israel has taken action. Early this morning, Israeli commandos struck deep into Lebanon, around Baalbek:

“…to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.” And it [Israel] said such operations would continue until “an effective monitoring unit” was in place to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal.

“If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the (U.N. cease-fire) resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. “Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active… then such Israeli activity will become superfluous.”

There is already evidence that Iran is trying to rearm Hezbollah, which would be a technical violation of both UN Resolutions 1559 and 1701. Remember Resolution 1559, which “Call[ed] for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias” and “Reaffirm[ed] its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout Lebanon?” Resolution 1701 called for the “removal from southern Lebanon of Hezbollah as an armed force.”

If someone like Kofi Annan had even a tiny bit of clarity, he would see Hezbollah as the antagonist, trying to break the ceasefire by ignoring its terms and rearming itself. Annan has no clarity, so Israel will be blamed.

The PR may be bad for Israel — PR generated by Annan and his politically-correct friends, but the facts on the ground dictate that no one can stop Israel from defending itself.

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Related: Israel, Political Correctness, Lebanon, Terrorist Groups, United Nations (UN)

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