Israeli sources: old maps led to bombing of UN post

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Israel has taken responsibility for bombing a UN outpost in Lebanon in late July -- a fatal miscalculation that claimed the lives of four UN personnel, including one Canadian.

Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, a Canadian serving as a military observer, died in the strike, along with personnel from Finland, Austria and China. The attack took place on July 25, in the midst of a 34-day conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

An Israeli government source told CTV that Israel acknowledges the strike was an accident, in an Israeli military report which has been submitted to the UN.

The report will not likely be made public, but details are being shared with ambassadors from the four nations."

more

[stepnw1f]

1. surrre.. that's it (nt)

[malaise]

12. LOL

so all the UN calls warning them were ignored?

[Ezlivin]

2. So that's what billions in advanced military aid from the US gets them?

I know that it didn't buy good armor for our soldiers.

But it's damned good at propaganda.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

3. Old maps? That might pass as an...

...excuse for getting off on the wrong road and losing your way during a cross country drive, but it hardly begins to explain away Israel's bombing of a U.N. observation post from which they'd received numerous panicked calls complaining about the shelling and giving their coordinates.

Israel's shelling/bombing of the U.N. post was intentional and done for intimidation purposes.

[Poll_Blind]

4. The older the map they use, the worse the outcome. n/t

PB

[JohnyCanuck]

5. And that US Spy ship with the satellite dishes on top

looked just like a decrepit Egyptian horse carrier. Ooops.

[hughee99]

6. Wasn't that one of the reasons given for

the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in 1999?

[Igel]

13. Yes. n/t

[madrchsod]

7. the idf air force

lost their way because of old maps. confused, the pilots dropped their ordnance on the clearly marked outpost that had been receiving incoming artillery fire from the idf ground forces..makes sense to me

[frylock]

8. fuck that

[Stockholm]

9. Hmm old maps

Looks like there are some tough questions for the Israeli government to answer:

1. Artillery or air attack or both?
2. Israeli military using pre-1972 maps?
3. Was the base clearly marked according to UN rules?
4. How come the "repeated" contacts from the UN officers did not have an effect?

"Mr. Annan said that the “coordinated artillery and air attack” occurred despite personal assurances given to him by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that UN positions would be spared fire. The Secretary-General said the post, near the Lebanese town of Khiyam, was “long established and clearly marked.”

In addition, he said the UN Force Commander in south Lebanon, General Alain Pelligrini, had been in repeated contact with Israeli officers throughout the day, stressing the need to protect this particular UN position from attack. At least 14 incidents of firing close to that post have been reported since this afternoon. A UN spokesman added that the firing continued while a search and rescue operation was taking place."

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=19306&Cr=leban&Cr1

"Some questioned whether the attack was intentional. The building was clearly marked as a neutral observer post, and had been in the town for decades. And in the hours before the missile struck, the observers had repeatedly warned the Israeli Defence Force that their attacks were coming too close."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060728/UN_observer_060731/20060731/

"The patrol base was initially an observation post and was built in 1972, but was later destroyed in 1976 during the fighting between the PLO and the South Lebanese Army (SLA). In 1978 it was rebuilt again and manned by elements of the Norwegian Battalion serving with UNIFIL. In 1980, Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) assumed responsibility for it. Historically, the area of the El Khiam and Hasbani valleys to the north and the Houla valley to the south have been the main axis for invasion in to Lebanon and Palestinian Territories."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060718/mideast_lebanon_UN_060716/20060718/

The four unarmed UN observers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland, died after their UN post in the town of Khiam was hit by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday.

The UN report says each time the UN contacted Israeli forces, they were assured the firing would stop.

A senior Irish soldier working for the UN forces had warned the Israelis six times that their bombardment was endangering the lives of UN staff, Ireland's foreign ministry said.

Had Israel responded to the requests, "rather than deliberately ignoring them", the observers would still be alive, a diplomat familiar with the report said."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5217176.stm

"Israel also threatened to attack UN peacekeepers if they attempted to repair bomb-damaged bridges in southern Lebanon. UN officials contacted the Israeli army to inform them that a team of Chinese military engineers attached to the UN force in Lebanon intended to repair the bridge on the Beirut to Tyre road to enable the transport of humanitarian supplies.

According to the UN, Israeli officials said the engineers would become a target if they attempted to repair the bridge.

Senior UN officials reacted angrily to the destruction of a temporary causeway over the Litani river overnight. "We must be able to have movement throughout the country to deliver supplies. At this point we can't do that," said David Shearer, the humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon. "The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law.""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1839442,00.html

Rest in peace
Lieutenant Jarno Mäkinen
Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener
Major Hans Peter Lang
Lieutenant Colonel Du Zhaoyu

[Violet_Crumble]

10. Mistakes like that should never happen...

That sort of incompetence is totally unforgivable. Anyway, didn't the UN personnel ringing and warning they were getting too close give the co-ordinates of their outpost? At least that's what I thought happened...

[breakaleg]

11. Yes. They phoned something close to 10 times. They knew

exactly where they were.

Given that, the fact that they offer such a weak defense shows how little they care what the international community thinks.