The Next Mideast War?
[Washington Post] David Makovsky - The causes of last year's war with Hizbullah in Lebanon still exist - and may spark another conflagration. Israel resorted to military action last July largely because the UN did nothing to implement Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1680 which made clear that Hizbullah should disband and be disarmed. Israel was left to fend for itself after Hizbullah crossed a UN-demarcated line, killed three Israeli soldiers, and kidnapped two soldiers it still has not released. The end of the war led to the passage of Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for an international embargo to prevent weaponry from entering Lebanon, a provision which has not been met. It has been widely reported that arms from Syria are being smuggled into Lebanon. The international community should agree to follow up Resolution 1701 with one involving the deployment of UN peacekeeping troops on the Syrian-Lebanese border. The writer is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
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