The EU's military commitment to Lebanon

Editorialist Alain Lallemand believes the EU should rise to the challenge of a miltary force for Lebanon and accept the human and financial costs that such a commitment entails. "Ultimately, ensuring peace on the Union's doorstep means safeguarding peace within the Union itself: let us remember that for almost a billion people, the Middle East is the mother of all the century's wars. ... Honesty dictates being up-front about the price: it is necessary to accept the idea of European loss of lifes in Lebanon. As in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Rwanda. Nonetheless, Europe must make a major commitment of troops to UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]. How can the Union go all out for Aceh and remain aloof in the Mediterranean ? Does Brussels want to confine itself to the role of generous financier of reconstruction ? The use of force is abhorrent, but it is better than the tyranny of powerlessness."

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