Leading The Peacekeepers

France is dripping all over the news today, sort of like an overripe, runny Brie left in the sun. With the same aroma. Now the Times of London reports that Jacques Chirac is applying heavy pressure on the UN to give France command of the UNIFIL forces. A diplomatic row is brewing between France and Italy.

KOFI ANNAN, the UN Secretary-General, will be asked today to decide whether France or Italy will command the expanded United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

The conflict arose after President Chirac announced the dispatch of two additional battalions, bringing the total number of French troops in the UN mission to 2,000.

M Chirac’s U-turn followed international criticism over an initial French offer to send only 200 soldiers.

But it appeared to place him at loggerheads with Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, who has said that he would provide 3,000 soldiers to join the expanded UN mission in southern Lebanon.

Signor Prodi offered to take the lead in the force and won backing from other Western capitals. Yesterday he said that President Bush had taken a “positive” view of Italy’s offer to lead the force.

But Italy’s stance has ruffled feathers in France, the former colonial power that sees itself as the natural leader of the international community in Lebanon.

Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister, said this week that France retained command of the UN force under existing arrangements until February.

Last night M Chirac asked the UN to maintain the lead role for France, insisting that “we are historically close” to Lebanon.

Italian newspapers suggested that an unseemly diplomatic spat between Rome and Paris over control of the peacekeeping mission could be avoided by an agreement to share the command.

But neither M Chirac nor Signor Prodi made reference to such a deal — with the French head of state insisting on the need for a “simple, clear, coherent” chain of command.

That last statement from Chirac would appear to disqualify the French entirely, would it not? Well, the French would be exceedingly good at any maneuver requiring a volte-face, I guess.

All French Treachery, All The Time

Wow, the French are simply outdoing themselves today. I think this may be a world's record for pulling about-faces in a single day. One wonders if it makes them dizzy. Now they are backing away from the "firm" stance they took on Iran. They initially said that Iran had to stop enrichment. Now? Well, not so much.

"For the moment, it (the Iranian response) is not satisfactory," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on RTL radio, but added it was important to avoid escalating conflict with Iran and the Muslim world.

"The worst thing would be to escalate into a confrontation (between the West and) Iran on the one hand, and the Muslim world with Iran…," he said.

"I'm starting from the principle we should have a dialogue with the Iranians, that we must hold out our hands to them."

The Russians are now also ruling out any sanctions. But there is a very telling remark made by the Russian Defense Minister that reveals probably more than he wanted to:

"I know of no instances in world practice and previous experience in which sanctions have achieved their aim and proved effective," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters during a trip to Russia's far east.

"Moreover, I believe that the question is not so serious at the moment for the U.N. Security Council or the group of six to consider any introduction of sanctions. Russia stands for further political and diplomatic efforts to settle the issue."

The Russians do not believe sanctions work, but that is the only tool available to apply pressure short of war. This is spiraling now.

The Incapable French

French President Jacques Chirac today proved, yet again, that the French are completely incapable of actually honoring a deal, even when they helped write it. Now Chirac is calling the mandate for 15,000 peacekeepers "excessive".

European and other nations have been dithering over how many troops to dispatch on the potentially hazardous mission, despite prompting from the United States, Israel and others.

Asked before talks with European foreign ministers whether he expected to be able to raise all the troops he is seeking, Annan replied: "Not today, but I will get the 15,000."

But French President Jacques Chirac, whose diplomats helped draft the August 11 Security Council resolution that authorized up to 15,000 peacekeepers to deploy in Lebanon, said he was unsure how many troops were needed but that 15,000 was too many.

The number was "completely excessive," Chirac told a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris.

"It doesn't really make sense. So what is the right number, 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000? I don't know," he said.

Italy has offered up to 3,000 troops and France boosted its pledge to 2,000 on the eve of the Brussels meeting. Belgium pledged to take part in the force on Friday. Other possible troop contributors include Spain, Poland and Finland.

About 150 French soldiers arrived by ship in Lebanon's southern port of Naqoura on Friday to join 50 extra troops already sent as part of France's initial offer of 200.

European Union president Finland, which will chair the talks in Brussels, said the bloc's credibility was at stake and that it must show it can deploy rapidly to protect a fragile truce.

U.N. officials want a strong European contingent alongside a sizeable Muslim component in the expanded UNIFIL force, which is to work with 15,000 Lebanese troops being deployed in the south.

You know, it is getting so it is impossible to parody the French. They take care of it all by themselves on a daily basis lately. Does the dictionary show a picture of Chirac next to the entry for perfidy? The words are synonymous these days.

Apple Recalls Laptop Batteries

Apple Computer is recalling 1.8 million laptop batteries that were manufactured by the same Sony subsidiary that manufactured the recalled Dell batteries.

The faulty lithium-ion batteries used by Apple and Dell Inc. — which announced its recall of 4.1 units on Aug. 14 — all were made by a Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). subsidiary at a Japanese plant. In their recall announcements, Apple and Dell said the batteries can cause the computers to short circuit, overheat or even catch fire.

Sony Energy Devices Corp. said the recalls will cost it between $172 million and $278 million.

The manufacturing process of lithium-ion batteries at the Sony plant introduced metal particles into battery cells. Makers of battery cells strive to minimize the presence of such particles, which can cause the overheating, but it's nearly impossible to eliminate the metal dust.

Sony said the Dell and Apple batteries were configured in slightly different ways. In a statement, it said the problems arise "on rare occasions" when microscopic metal particles hit other parts of the battery cell and lead to a short circuit.

Apple said Thursday it has received nine reports of battery packs overheating, including two cases in which users suffered minor burns and some involving minor property damage.

The recall affects only laptops that run PowerPC chips built by IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. It does not affect Apple's Intel Corp.-based models, including the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

….

Apple's recall covers 1.1 million rechargeable batteries in the 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptops sold in the United States from October 2003 through August 2006. The recall also covers an additional 700,000 batteries in laptops sold abroad, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The recall affects only laptops that run PowerPC chips built by IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. It does not affect Apple's Intel Corp.-based models, including the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Apple notebook owners were told to stop using the batteries and to remove them from their laptops. The machines can continue to be used as long as they're plugged into an AC power source.

Apple asked customers to consult a Web site or call a toll-free hot line, 1-800-275-2273, to determine whether they have a battery that is covered by the recall. A free replacement will be shipped to affected customers.

If you have one of the computers included in the recall, you might want to get on the phone real quick. It's likely going to take some time to get that many batteries replaced.

Kidnapped Journalists

Hamas is saying that they are making progress in freeing two kidnapped Fox News journalists, Steve Centanni and freelancer Olaf Wiig. That's right, Hamas says it is making progress.

"Things are going in a positive direction," Palestinian Interior Minister Saeed Seyam of Hamas said in a statement, though he offered no details.

The statement was the first on efforts by the Hamas-led government to free Fox correspondent Steve Centanni and camera man Olaf Wiig.

Asked to elaborate on the statement, Interior Ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal would only say that there was "an important development and progress" in the case.

New Zealand-born Wiig, 36, and American Centanni, 60, were seized on August 14 as they were working on a story in central Gaza City. Theirs is the longest-lasting abduction in Gaza in more than a year.

On Wednesday, the previously unknown Holy Jihad Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and gave the United States 72 hours to free Muslim prisoners or else the captives would face unspecified consequences.

The deadline is set to expire around midday on Saturday.

If I were the cynical type, I might wonder about whether Hamas is actually involved in the kidnappings, but playing it as if they were riding to the rescue. For propaganda purposes, of course. If I were the cynical type…

General Court Martial For Watada

Preliminary reports indicate that the officer responsible for the Article 32 hearing in the case of the dishonorable Ehren Watada will recommend a formal general court martial.

1st Lt. Ehren Watada, 28, of Honolulu, has been charged with missing troop movement, conduct unbecoming an officer and contempt toward officials. He refused to deploy to Iraq on June 22 with his Fort Lewis-based unit.

A report by the investigating officer, Lt. Col. Mark Keith, "does recommend that the case be tried by general court-martial," J.C. Mathews, a civilian spokesman at the Army base south of Seattle, said late Thursday

Keith's report was expected to be released Friday.

The Army laid out its case against Watada at a hearing last week, showing video footage of the lieutenant calling the war illegal.

Keith could recommend anything from dismissal of the charges to a general court-martial.

His recommendation goes to Watada's brigade commander, Col. Cynthia Murphy, and to Lt. Gen. James Dubik, Fort Lewis' commander, who has the final say on whether Watada should stand trial, Mathews said.

If convicted, Watada could face seven years in prison and dishonorable discharge.

It is, of course, up to the chain of command what happens from here. But an article 32 is similar to a grand jury proceeding in the civilian world. Earlier posts here, here and here.

Nattering

Spiro Agnew, not a very admirable man in most ways, did have a certain ability to coin a phrase. So it was that the term "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism" entered the lexicon to describe the press. If anything in the years since, the press descended further in the negative direction. In many cases, actually having to excavate to get deeper. On the subject of Iraq they brought in the tunneling machinery.

IraqPundit has a good example of why you really have to be very cautious in just accepting what the press has to say about Iraq.

So in the last few days WaPo ran a story asserting that "the debate is over" and the Iraqi Civil War is officially raging, and the NYT ran a story claiming that "by almost all measures," Iraq's insurgency is getting worse. So how is it that people in Baghdad are telling ABC News that they feel safer than they've felt in a long time?

“I’m happy because we’re safe,” said a man who lives in Dora, a Baghdad neighborhood. “Stores are open and we can move around freely.”

Turns out that, news of the Apocalypse notwithstanding, there's apparently been a significant decline in Baghdad street violence this month, including both criminal and political attacks. At least that's what U.S. and Iraqi officials are claiming. While it's reasonable to take a skeptical view of such claims like these, it's just as reasonable to be skeptical of the U.S. media's reports about the state of the city. As for me, I put my bet on the Baghdadis.

Here's what's going on. The U.S. military has increased its presence in Baghdad in order to rein in the murders, kidnappings and other criminal violent activity that has been plaguing the capital. (This security program does not address car bombings.) Some 5,000 extra troops moved in two weeks ago, and joined with thousands of Iraqi troops to do door-to-door sweeps in a series of dangerous neighborhoods.

The result, according to ABC news, is “encouraging.” The network reported that in the last two weeks, there has been a significant decline in violent attacks. The Iraqi ministry of defense says that violent attacks were down 30 percent, the U.S. military says the violence was down 22 percent, and both agree the numbers are preliminary.

Interesting, isn't it? ABC is actually saying things are encouraging. Centcom is issuing reports that tell a very different story than most of what the press is reporting these days. Frankly, the negativity about Iraq and the sloppy and skewed, agenda driven reporting is what helps whip up opposition to the war both here at home and abroad.

Which, I am quite sure the members of the media are well aware of.