Blue-helmeted UN “peacekeepers” in Lebanon are not allowed to set up checkpoints, not allowed to search cars or houses, not allowed to detain suspects, not even allowed to stop trucks carrying Hizballah missiles: U.N. Force Is Treading Lightly on Lebanese Soil.

Thumb-twiddling is apparently permissible, if the proper forms are filled out in triplicate and the Lebanese army approves.

It’s the absolute triumph of diplomatic form over substance, a complete waste of everyone’s time and money, and Hizballah is laughing all the way to the armory.

TIBNIN, Lebanon, Sept. 24 — One month after a United Nations Security Council resolution ended a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, members of the international force sent to help keep the peace say their mission is defined more by what they cannot do than by what they can.

They say they cannot set up checkpoints, search cars, homes or businesses or detain suspects. If they see a truck transporting missiles, for example, they say they can not stop it. They cannot do any of this, they say, because under their interpretation of the Security Council resolution that deployed them, they must first be authorized to take such action by the Lebanese Army.

The job of the United Nations force, and commanders in the field repeat this like a mantra, is to respect Lebanese sovereignty by supporting the Lebanese Army. They will only do what the Lebanese authorities ask.