U.S. Ambassador accuses U.N. of being “blind” to spread of illegal arms in Lebanon

The U.N. peacekeeping commander in Lebanon Maj. Gen. Michael Beary has been accused of being “blind” to the spread of illegal arms in that country.

The accusation is coming from no other than U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley while reiterating a call for the force to do more about the worrying trend.

Haley affirms that there is a “massive flow of illegal weapons” to Hezbollah-dominated southern Lebanon, where neighboring Israel has long complained that the militant group operates with impunity.

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However, the U.N. peacekeeping commander in Lebanon says there’s no evidence it’s actually happening.

But Haley said there’s plenty of evidence including Hezbollah’s own boasts and Beary displayed “an embarrassing lack of understanding of what’s going on.”

“He seems to be the only person in south Lebanon who is blind to what Hezbollah is doing,” she said, adding that his view of the situation “shows that we need to have changes” in the mission.

The Irish general told The Associated Press that his force has no evidence of weapons being illegally transferred and stockpiled in the area, and that “if there was a large cache of weapons, we would know about it.”

 

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