Tokyo, Japan -- Mr. Shimon Peres, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, told our colleague in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that he didn't think any UN force would work to disarm Hezbollah. He may be right, but there is no viable alternative. So let's waste money on another unworkable mission.
Mr. Peres was quite right in pointing out several wasteful UN missions in the region as examples of failures. UNIFIL, supposed to keep peace in Lebanon, has been at work since 1978. UNDOF in Golan Heights has been around since 1974. UNRWA, set up in 1949, will surely celebrate its centenary in some forty years. All these are really the waste of money. But, because of these seemingly ineffective bodies, the hotspots have not erupted for quite a long time.
Israelis surely know that the presence of these organizations, though ineffective to check terrorists in the region, has helped to bring the badly needed status quo that has benefited Israelis for a while. Israel's best wines are now produced in the Golan Heights. Many UN organizations employ as many people as possible to make substantial contributions to the Palestinian economy.
Sending any international force to the region will not result in disarming Hezbollah. Everyone knows that this will be a temporary, surgical, or even cosmetic operation. It won't be a fundamental cure. But, has anybody come up with any viable prognosis to permanently eliminate the causes of Middle East conflicts? I don't see any.
We take medicines sometimes perfectly knowing that they won't work except to stabilize the situation. They will, however, remove pains for a while. I am prepared to support my government in spending money to send unworkable troops in the region. They will, at least, stop the waste of human lives.
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