Sir, - I served for three years as an Irish diplomat in Beirut in the early to mid 1980s. It was my first direct experience of the tremendous standing in which Irish UN peacekeepers are held wherever they serve.
The words used by Lebanese of almost every persuasion to describe the women and men of Irishbatt rarely varied: professional, impartial, approachable, efficient, down-to-earth, popular, trusted and dedicated. They took the trouble to get to know the people, took tea in their houses, were well informed about local politics and problems, provided humanitarian assistance in a variety of ways and carried out their military duties in an exemplary fashion.
UNIFIL was not a complete success. There were occasional difficulties with Palestinians and with local resistance forces as well as persistent and sometimes murderous harrassment from Israeli-backed militias and from Israel itself, which never honoured the terms of UN resolution 425.
Israel re-invaded the area more than once, notably in 1982, and remained in occupation of parts of it until last year, drawing upon itself an inevitable resistance movement and ensuring that it would not have peaceful relations with Lebanon until it got out.
But although UNIFIL was a lightly armed force and was not intended to deal with a heavily armed invading and occupying army, the UN area was consistently the safest part of South Lebanon, as shown by the fact that it was the only part of the south where large numbers of people felt they could live in safety.
Now that Israel has finally left and its militias have been dismantled, there is a chance of peace in Lebanon. The Lebanese themselves have shown enormous resilience and courage and compassion; the departure of Israel was not followed by a bloodbath, as some Western observers predicted. They are now reconstructing their country, with considerable support from their own diaspora. As we leave, we should wish them well.
An approach to world and regional security based on massive retaliation, dubious allies and the arbitrary use of force against civilians can only store up trouble for future generations. The role and style of UN peacekeeping forces shows that there is another way. Countries such as Ireland, with long experience and no axe to grind, are ideally placed to carry out this mission.
It is true that this approach will not suffice to deal with murderers such as those who carried out the September 11th attacks, but such people would have little support in the first place if a strong, renewed UN, not superpower bullies representing the rich and privileged, played the central role in world affairs which it should. - Yours, etc.,
Piaras Mac ╔inr∅, Model Farm Road, Cork.