Courtesy of Gary H. Johnson, Jr.

On March 28, 2009, a UNIFIL patrol was stopped by Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. The Captain of the patrol, a Polish National and member of a 450 man support group to the UNIFIL forces in the region, was subsequently arrested by Hezbollah Security and turned over to the Lebanese Armed Forces. In the process, his vehicle was searched by an armed guard: a camera and a map were confiscated and later turned over to authorities. The pictures/footage on the camera were troubling to Hezbollah, since they depicted precise information about a Hezbollah Fortress and roads leading up to the Southern Lebanese stronghold. Questions of whether the Captain was an Israeli spy immediately surfaced, and 5 days later, the Polish Ambassador to Lebanon informed Lebanese officials that Poland was withdrawing its UNIFIL command to reduce its external force allocation around the globe.

Interestingly, in that same period of time, the UNIFIL commanders lobbied the NY offices over the violations of UNSCR 1701 by Israeli Air Force’s flyovers of Southern Lebanon. No mention was made of the fact that an armed Hezbollah checkpoint accosted, arrested, and robbed one of its members in complete violation of 1701. It is obvious that a double standard exists in the reports of 1701 violations by Graziano, the head of the UNIFIL forces. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that UNIFIL is on the payroll of Lebanon -- with the new budget’s ratification in Southern Lebanon, UNIFIL’s budget just went from 45 to 60 million LL.

The fact that the Polish units are being pulled out of Lebanon in a very hush hush manner suggests the Captain violated regulations of the UNIFIL mandate in some form, but how can a camera be considered such a breach of a mandate, considering that the purpose of the UNIFIL soldiers is chiefly reconnoissance work for the Lebanese Armed Forces? Indeed, what are the regulations that he trespassed? What can possibly be so secretive about the Fortress that Hezbollah would consider a UNIFIL soldier a spy for snapping a few shots? What could have been so damaging about taking photographs of a road or having a map?

The fact of the matter is the freedom of the press is literally crushed in Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah, who do not allow any photography in the region. The reason is simple, of course: Hezbollah strongholds in Southern Lebanon are designed for warfare, so if the world sees these photos before any war with Israel happens in the near future -- which it will whenever Iran catches a few thousand sorties in its nuclear eye -- an if no one sees the military buildup amid the highly populated areas of Southern Lebanon, then the world will not be able to make a moral response to the carnage caused by Hezbollah’s use of village-wide human shields to cover their bunkered positions. If the world can’t make a moral response in advance, Hezbollah's anti-Israel propaganda allies in the MSM the world over will be able to shape public opinion against Israel in demonizing fashion, just as the propaganda machine did during the recent 22-day Gaza war.

The Polish Captain could have leaked the photographs, which may or may not have had info about rocket positions, military preparations or rocket smuggling information. We will never know exactly what was in the photographs, not only because Hezbollah has completely silenced and blinded all international media from the region, but because the EU and the UN have a vested interest in covering up the fact that their countermeasures to Iranian and Syrian arms smugglers are absolutely worthless. Moreover, the fact that UNIFIL is not allowed to inspect villages in Southern Lebanon for weapons smuggling is the mission’s very weakness, and it is precisely why Graziano’s reports present such a rosy picture of a cooperative Hezbollah.

The Lebanese Army is infiltrated by Hezbollah to a large extent, these forces have strongholds and weapons caches all over Southern Lebanon’s villages and UNIFIL, which is trusting the Lebanese Army to play fair, is completely blind to the fact that the Lebanese Army, the Hezbollah Militias, and various Government officials in the Lebanese Political spectrum are covering a drug, human, and weapons smuggling operation that is literally underground. Since UNIFIL is, in fact, working with Hezbollah to catch Hezbollah, no wonder everything seems to show an organization that is fully cooperating. And the world is fine with it, because it prefers the lie to the truth.

There is a reason the EUBAM Rafah Mission failed to stop rockets from reaching Gaza from Egypt: the EU COPPS were playing by the rules and watching the surface for activity. Gun Smugglers are typically a little creative in the methods they use to transport weapons. They usually don’t just try to go through a checkpoint whistling and sweating bullets hoping no one will look inside any of the 300 crates of grad rockets marked “Tomatoes” in the bed of their vehicle. Generally, they are going to find ways around the checkpoint, under the checkpoint, or create a diversion or a bribe to guarantee that they can run the gauntlet successfully. In fact, those that are caught in the process are generally decoys that can create enough confusion and ruckus and paperwork to make sure no one is paying attention to the massive shipment coming from another angle. Jihad includes prison time for the dedicated mujahideen and fedayeen.

The fact of the matter is the mandate of UNIFIL needs to be expanded to include the Southern Villages of Lebanon and the Lebanese-Syria Border or UNIFIL's 13,000 soldiers should simply give up the charade and leave Lebanon. As it stands, UNIFIL is actually providing diplomatic cover for Hezbollah’s massive upsurge in weaponry. Indeed, while it took Hezbollah 20 years to amass 12 to 15,000 rockets by 2006, sources today report that Hezbollah has added 30-50,000 rockets just since the July War.

UNIFIL may have been better served in this level of effectiveness if it had simply paved a road and built the storehouses for Hezbollah's smuggling rings.