two measures, the UNIFIL mission on the lebanese coast

Submitted by myth (Germany), Jun 8, 2010 at 07:30

The german navy takes part in the UNIFIL mission which patrols the coast of Lebanon to stop arms supply. Here is a link to the german forces' webpage describing the mission: http://www.bundeswehr.de/portal/a/bwde/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLd443dHcyAMmB2MYBIfqRcMGglFR9b31fj_zcVP0A_YLciHJHR0VFAEHVlXE!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLzZfQ18xR0JM?yw_contentURL=%2FC1256EF4002AED30%2FW26TSEUL977INFODE%2Fcontent.jsp

Note how the navy boasts a picture of a boarding mission using helicopters on a ship. This is quite similar to pictures of recent events. Quoting the text: "Die Aufgaben der Bundeswehr, denen ein robustes Mandat zu Grunde liegt, sind Aufklärung und Kontrolle der Seewege sowie die Umleitung von Schiffen im Verdachtsfall." which translates into: "The Bundeswehr's tasks, on the basis of a solid mandate, are reconaissance and control of seaways as well as diversion of ships in case of suspicion," There are obviously two measures here. Why else is boarding a ship good advertising for the german navy when it is a crime should the Israelis do the same thing ? Is giving such a mission a six-letter acronym name good enough to make it acceptable ? My feeling is that Hamas is considered semi-legitimate in the west whereas Hizbullah is considered intolerable.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".