This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity

[Thrawn]

"A Canadian soldier's report from South Lebanon
Updated Wed. Jul. 26 2006 5:19 PM ET


After the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, and the subsequent bombing campaign began against Lebanon, CTV.ca received an email from Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener, a Canadian Forces soldier serving with the UN in South Lebanon.

"If you are interested in a Canadian perspective on the events of yesterday and what is happening here in the area I am serving in, I can provide some concise info for you about the current situation," he wrote.

With the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Major Hess-von Kruedener was the only Canadian serving as a United Nations Military Observer in Lebanon.  He was stationed at the UN base about 10 kilometres from where the Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders meet. The UN's mission there is to report ceasefire violations.
On July 25, that base came under fire from Israeli artillery and was struck by a precision-guided aerial bomb. Four UN observers died. On July 26, the federal government said Hess-von Kruedener was missing and presumed dead.


Here is his full email, written July 18, with background on the mission and the current situation:"

...

"This is all the information of a non-tactical nature that I can provide you. I cannot give you any info on Hezbollah position, proximity or the amount of or types of sorties the IAF is currently flying. Suffice to say that the activity levels and operational tempo of both parties is currently very high and continuous, with short breaks or pauses. Please understand the nature of my job here is to be impartial and to report violations from both sides without bias. As an Unarmed Military Observer, this is my raison d'etre.

What I can tell you is this: we have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both artillery and aerial bombing. The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity.

I thank you for the opportunity to provide you with some information from the front lines here in south Lebanon.

Maj Hess-von Kruedener"


Thought it might be informative to get the victims perspective.

[kamilyun]

Source?

Not trying to be a d*** but I could write an email like...

[xrtoronto]

I thought the 4 died from a precision guided weapon?

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

Originally posted by xrtoronto
I thought the 4 died from a precision guided weapon?

Read it again. It appears the man who wrote the email was a casualty, and the email was written the week before.

That's really sad. It was a little late, even when the email was written, to have people there observing cease fire violations. Once the cease fire was violated, exposing those people to any sort of combat was stupid and inexcuseable. There was no need fo those people to be there. I am not minimizing the deaths, nor their desire to contribute, but the cease fire ceased to exist and they simply shouldn't have been there. A truly tragic loss that shouldn't have happened. My condolences.

[xrtoronto]

Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts
Read it again. It appears the man who wrote the email was a casualty, and the email was written the week before.

I am quite aware of that. Israel knew they were there.

[bozon]

Too bad about those 4 UN observers. As much as I find UNIFIL force a joke and their 28 years in south Lebanon a waste of UN funds, they did not deserve to die.

I still don't know about this specific incident, but Hizballa has made a habit of launching rockets from proximity of UN posts. They use UNIFIL and Lebanon civilians as human shields, hoping that the IDF will not attack back or if it does, to get as many civilian and UN casualties as possible.

I can tell that the rockets on Haifa during last week were fired from the proximity of Tyre where there is a UN base and a large concentration of refugees. Their hope is to create a second "Kanna village" incident that will force a cease fire on Israel. The UN has been orgenizing convoys going north along the coast, evacuating the civilians during the last days. This is the reason the IDF has only now begun to hit positions in the outskirts and the city itself.

That Kanna incident happend in operation "grapes of wrath" where the IAF and artilley were attacking Hizballa posts after it launched rockets on Israel northern settlements. In that incident they launched rockets from just outside the fence of a UN base where a few hundred refugees were gathered. Israeli artilley was hasty in returning fire without checking what else is in that location and killed many civilians. The operation was ended soon after.

I'm going back to service duty tomorrow, so I will get the airforce side of it. When I'll be back I'll tell what I can and allowed to.

Bozon

[Seagoon]

Original Source for the Letter and Full Story

Thanks for posting this Thrawn.

- SEAGOON

[Momus--]

"Tactical necessity"? Is that a veiled way of saying that the Israelis knew there  was a danger of hitting neutrals but fired anyway?

Originally posted by Captain Virgil Hilts

Once the cease fire was violated, exposing those people to any sort of combat was stupid and inexcuseable. There was no need fo those people to be there.

You may be right. However, according to a spokesman for the Indian UNFIL contingent in Lebanon quoted in the Jerusalem Post yesterday, ease of movement for the observers has been very much curtailed as a result of the fighting. It is entirely possible that the outpost in question was isolated and could not be evacuated.  (Source)

[Seagoon]

Hi Momus,

Originally posted by Momus--
"Tactical necessity"? Is that a veiled way of saying that the Israelis knew there  was a danger of hitting neutrals but fired anyway?

No, Hess-von Kruedner was simply saying that the Israelis have nothing in particular against UN observers like he and his team, but that unfortunately there is a war going on all around them and that Hezbollah forces were engaging Israelis from points all around them. This meant that when the Israelis responded ordinance fell all around them.

I believe the Israelis are for the most part fighting this as a weapons-free war. If they are engaged from a position, or if rockets are fired into Israel from it, they will respond regardless of what that position is (Masjid, Apartment complex, etc.) This nullifies the primary defensive weapon the Jihadists have had against Coalition forces, the human shield. Unfortunately, it also opens the Israelis up to the full force of world approbrium.

Interestingly, had the allies been using the current Coalition rules of engagement during World War 2, shelling the beaches and inland areas in Normandy would have been essentially impossible, as would bombing the French civilian infrastructure. Apparently the Israelis prefer the prior WW2 rules.

- SEAGOON

[bozon]

Originally posted by Momus--
"Tactical necessity"? Is that a veiled way of saying that the Israelis knew there  was a danger of hitting neutrals but fired anyway?
 

Yes, very likely.
What do you expect when these rockets are aimed at Israeli towns? that Israel would file a complaint with the UN?

[xrtoronto]

Originally posted by bozon
Yes, very likely.
What do you expect when these rockets are aimed at Israeli towns? that Israel would file a complaint with the UN?

oh..that explains it...I didn't know the 4 UN observers were firing rockets at Israel.

[Maverick]

There is another explanation that may have escaped xtoronto's observation. The UN forces have no authority to tell hezbollah forces not to fire from right next to their position. They were attempting to use the UN forces as cover for their own offensive operations. Think human shield and then decide who's fault it was for the location of the fire into Isreal, and the resultant return fire. Hezbollah has been using the urban areas and civilians as shields for their operations. Why go out and fight in the open when you can hide behind women and children then blame the enemy for the deaths of those human shields.

[RTSigma]

Good job to Israel for having a pair to fire back no matter what. Civilians get in the way because of Hezbollah launching attacks? Why not leave or fight those savages for putting their lives in danger? It's like the one guy in the middle of the crowd for getting a bull to get up in the stands, who are you gonna blame?

[Gunslinger]

From today’s United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon press release (PDF), more reports of Hizballah using UN posts as cover for attacks:

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/pr011.pdf

There were three incidents of firing close to UN positions in the last 24 hours from the Israeli side. It was also reported that Hezbollah fired from the vicinity of four UN positions at Marwahin, Alma Ash Shab, Bra****, and At Tiri.

I find it tragic that some peacekeepers got killed in all of this but to blame the IDF is wrong.  It is the terrorists that fight amongst colateral targets not the IDF.

[xrtoronto]

Originally posted by RTSigma
Civilians get in the way because of Hezbollah launching attacks?

the Canadian that was killed was NOT a civilian. He was a Major in the Canadian Forces. But that doesn't matter to you...if he's not american or israeli he's just another piece of s***. Very nice sentiment indeed.