Kofi Annan has finally given the order to evacuate UN observer posts (aka Hizballah firing positions) along the Israeli-Lebanon border: UN removes unarmed observers from northern border.

The United Nations has decided to remove 50 unarmed observers from their posts along the Israeli-Lebanese border, moving them in with the peacekeeping force in the area, a spokesman said Friday.

The decision came after one of the posts of the observer force, known as UNTSO, was destroyed by an IAF air strike earlier this week, killing four.

“These are unarmed people and this is for their protection,” said Milos Struger, a spokesman for UNIFIL, the peacekeeping force whose 2,000 members have light weapons for self-defense.

Annan’s immediate, rash statement condemning Israel for “deliberately” attacking the observer post suddenly makes more sense. He’s trying to weasel out of his own responsibility for not withdrawing the observers earlier, even though the UN’s own reports showed that Hizballah was routinely using their positions as cover.