The UN in action!

Here's a good case study of the UN in action....

Hizbullah has denied Israeli warplanes attacked South Lebanon on Tuesday, saying an explosion heard in the area was caused by a previously unexploded artillery shell. Witnesses and Hizbullah television station Al-Manar earlier reported warplanes had fired at a suspected Hizbullah target just north of the Lebanon-Israel border.

The reports emerged after the UN Security Council failed to issue a statement condemning the attacks, due to a dispute between the U.S. and Algeria over the final wording.

After several hours of negotiations, Security Council members gave up trying to amend a statement, drafted by France, which would have condemned "military exchanges initiated by Hizbullah" as well as "Israeli violations of Lebanese air space."

The U.S. wanted the reference to Israel deleted and Algeria objected to putting the blame on Hizbullah.

A high-ranking UN diplomat told The Daily Star "Algeria did not approve of the draft statement because it said the violence on Monday was 'initiated by Hizbullah'."

According to the diplomat, "Aside from Algeria, everyone at the meeting was agreed on the fact that Hizbullah was the one who initiated the violence on Monday."

So, Hezbollah initiated the attacks on Israel; Israel planes did not attack Lebanon; and the UN is stymied in a condemnation becasue of Algeria!