In a July 24 Aljazeera interview, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah suggests the Lebanese government knew of Hezbollah’s plans – and gave the green light;
Interviewer: “Did you inform them that you were about to abduct Israeli soldiers?”
Hassan Nasrallah: “I told them that we must resolve the issue of the prisoners, and that the only way to resolve it is by abducting Israeli soldiers.”
Interviewer: “Did you say this clearly?”
Hassan Nasrallah: “Yes, and nobody said to me: ‘No, you are not allowed to abduct Israeli soldiers.’ Even if they had told me not to… I’m not defending myself here. I said that we would abduct Israeli soldiers, in meetings with some of the main political leaders in the country. I don’t want to mention names now, but when the time comes to settle accounts, I will. They asked: ‘If this happens, will the issue of the prisoners be over and done with?’ I said that it was logical that it would. And I’m telling you, our estimation was not mistaken. I’m not exaggerating. Anywhere in the world – show me a country, show me an army, show me a war, in which two soldiers, or even civilian hostages, were abducted, and a war was waged against a country – and all for two soldiers. This has never happened throughout history, and even Israel has never done such a thing.”
Well, it’s happening now. The portrayal of Lebanon as innocent bystander has always been a stretch – Hezbollah has operated in Lebanon with impunity for years and has a good deal of popular support. As it is with the Palestinian territories – sometimes people get the government they deserve.
Via Ed Morrissey, who also has links to video.
Update: This seems to back up the Nasrullah interview:
A senior Hezbollah official said Tuesday the guerrilla group did not expect Israel to react so strongly to its capture of two Israeli soldiers.
Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah’s political arm, also told The Associated Press in an interview that his group will not lay down arms.
Here we go…
“The truth is _ let me say this clearly _ we didn’t even expect (this) response…. that (Israel) would exploit this operation for this big war against us,” said Komati. He said Hezbollah had expected “the usual, limited response” from Israel to the July 12 cross-border raid, in which three Israelis were killed.
In the past, he said, Israeli responses to Hezbollah actions included sending commandos into Lebanon to seize Hezbollah officials or briefly targeting specific Hezbollah strongholds.
Hezbollah the victim. Who didn’t see that coming?
He said the Shiite group had anticipated there would be negotiations on exchanging the Israeli soldiers for three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, with Germany acting as a mediator as it did before.
Guess they anticipated wrong. Tough break.
Fox News Breaking: One of Top Three Hezbollah Leaders Killed in Southern Lebanon
I might have believed this had it come from another source. This is likely disinformation promulgated for tactical reasons. Skepticism required.
Whoopsie!?! (But then- there are also those who claim that Israel was also planning to invade BEFORE their troops were kidnapped, (or captured-depending on where they were when they were grabbed).
P.S. Welcome to WW3
Israelis have been kidnapping, murdering, and torturing Palestinians (AND BRITISH CITIZENS) by the thousands for decades. For a change of pace, Israeli forces are now attacking Red Cross ambulances:
“The Israel Defense Forces said last night that Israeli fire hit an ambulance during fighting in the Qana area, east of Tyre.”
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/07/25/ambulance_drivers_tell_tales_of_horror/?page=2
Last time I checked attempted murder of Red Cross paramedics was not a Canadian value; neither is apartheid, terrorism, torture, ethnic cleansing, or human trafficking. These don’t appear to be British values either:
British anger at terror celebration
The commemoration of Israeli bombings that killing 92 people has caused offence
The Times July 20, 2006
AS ISRAEL wages war against Hezbollah “terrorists” in Lebanon, Britain has protested about the celebration by right-wing Israelis of a Jewish “act of terrorism” against British rule 60 years ago this week.
The rightwingers, including Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister, are commemorating the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the headquarters of British rule, that killed 92 people and helped to drive the British from Palestine.
They have erected a plaque outside the restored building, and are holding a two-day seminar with speeches and a tour of the hotel by one of the Jewish resistance fighters involved in the attack.
Simon McDonald, the British Ambassador in Tel Aviv, and John Jenkins, the Consul-General in Jerusalem, have written to the municipality, stating: “We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated.”
In particular they demanded the removal of the plaque that pays tribute to the Irgun, the Jewish resistance branch headed by Menachem Begin, the future Prime Minister, which carried out the attack on July 22, 1946.
…
Decades later, Irgun veterans are unrepentant. Sarah Agassi, 80, remembers spying in the King David Hotel.
She and a fellow agent posed as a couple. They danced tangos and waltzes, sipped whisky and wine while they cased out the hotel.
On the day her brother and his fellow fighters posed as Arabs delivering milk and brought seven milk churns, each containing 50kg of explosives, into the building. Ms Agassi waited across the street until her brother rushed out. She said that she then made the warning call to the British command in the hotel.
Sitting in the luxurious hotel lobby, she expressed no regret. “We fought for our independence. We thought it was the right way . . . If I had to fight for Israel, I swear even now I would do anything.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-2277717,00.html
murray: is your suspicion of memri or Al-J?
having hezbollah dictate Lebanese policy is like having quebec run canada.
sorry, we do that dont we.
davie – not sure what your point is, but we’ve been in WWIII for a few years now. You’re free to start the clock anywhere you want on the terrorist’s atrocities timeline over the past 30 years. 9/11 suits me fine.
If Israel wanted to use that provocation to clean out the Hezbollah missiles that’s fine with me too. Israel’s very life depends and will always depend on planning and taking advantage of every scenerio. They don’t get a second chance if they lose a war.
Considering the source is Nasrallah, I’m a little sceptical. Does anyone here know the proportion
of Christians in the Lebanese government and do you think they would give their approval. This
also shows the limits of Nasrallah’s analytical ability – given the Iran situation, I would expect
the Israelis would love to smash Hizballah (Iran’s proxy in Lebanon). Nasrallah has given them
the excuse.
How many soldiers have to be kidnapped before it triggers a response like Lebenon is now facing?
Nasrallah has screwed up big time. By underestimating the Israeli response he has effectively signed his own death warrant.
Once Hamass and Hezbolla have been administered their respective smart bomb enemas Nasrallah will face the unfortunate task of demonstrating to the class why a suicide bomber should not answer his cell phone while en route to the next target area.
John B: It’s 12 Christians and 12 Muslims
Does anyone here know the proportion
of Christians in the Lebanese government and do you think they would give their approval.
It’s entirely possible that Hezbollah’s influence in the cabinet is disproportionate to their numbers. (Some quick googling indicates only one but the point stands.)
We don’t hear much complaining about Hezb’allah coming from the Lebanese government these days. I think this is out of fear more than any complicity. That was a considerably sized smoking hole in the ground when Rafik Hariri was offed.
Nasrallah would like nothing more than to finally pound the wooden stake through the heart of the Lebanese government. Complicity in this abduction could do it, if Israel fell for it and went after the Lebanese government as well. It would be consistent in style to try to tar the Lebanese government with this.
I say, nice try Nasrallah. By the way, will you accept delivery of this bunker-buster? It’s prepaid, air express delivery.
Att: Willy Nuancy Graham.
No nuance; not balanced; overwhelming, Willy.
Nuance – Nuance = Dead. …-
DF force kills Hizbullah senior commander in southern Lebanon
GAMLA: News and views from Israel ^ | July 25/06
An Elite IDF force killed a Hizbullah senior commander near the villages of Maroun al-Ras and Bint Jbeil.An army source told Ynet that the terrorist was killed by soldiers when the force invaded a structure used by Hizbullah as a war room. …-
free republic
Israel should just do a Joni Mitchell on that piece of Lebanon full of Hisbullah whackjobs
Put up a sign . . . “Under new Management
Pave paradise
Put up a parking lot
Find every Hisbullah hidy hole and put their big D9 bulldozers to work, Just bury all the complexes, all the entrances.
Flashback to the perfidy of the AdScam Chretien/Martin
hug-a-Muslim-Islamist-terrorist regime, aka Librano$. …-
By Stephen Brown
FrontPageMagazine.com | August 26, 2002
It was another shameful Canadian moment.
Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien added to his dismal record in the war on terrorism when his government just recently published a list of seven outlawed terrorist organizations in Canada. The murderous Hamas organization was not among them.
Hamas is the terrorist group responsible for the suicide bombings in Israel that have killed hundreds of innocent people. Its twin brother in murder and mayhem, Hezbollah, also didn’t make the banned list. …
Chrétien’s inexcusable failure to ban Hamas from Canadian territory is in keeping with the lukewarm support America has received from its northern neighbor in its war against radical Islam. This is the same Prime Minister who slighted our American cousins by turning up so late at ground zero in New York to pay his condolences, despite Canada’s close proximity to the United States both in historical relations and geography.
Moreover, after 9/11, Chrétien denied there were any terrorist groups operating in his country until his own security organization went to the media and contradicted him, saying there were 50 such groups on Canadian soil.
The Prime Minister also snubbed the World Trade Center tragedy when he refused to have an official memorial service for the almost 40 Canadian citizens who died in its rubble.
One of Chrétien’s most cowardly acts since last September was his recent withdrawal of the 800 Canadian troops from Afghanistan in the middle of the fight, abandoning our friends and allies on the battlefield. …-
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=2545
Cal2, Hezbollah is nothing like Quebec, even at its worst. Lebanon may be like Quebec with the separatist being the Hezbollah version, but even there, in Canada Political parties/agendas use political means to disrupt not terrorism
Neither Nasrallah nor Al-Jazeera is a beacon of truth. Are you also willing to swallow the assertion that Israel’s reaction was solely predicated on the capture of two soldiers?
Commenter said: “In other news…Noah surprised by the amount of rainfall in recent days.” …-
Top Hizbullah official: Group Didn’t Expect Israel To React So Strongly (DUUUUUH!!!)
Ynet
A senior Hizbullah official has said the group did not expect Israel to react so strongly to the capture of two Israeli soldiers. (AP)
via free republic
From CNN: White House gives Israel’s forces between 10-14 days to finish dealing terror group ‘strategic blow’.
Right, and how long have they’ve been in Iraq, Afg?
Hezbollah gunners are firing at the Golan Heights in an effort to embroil Syria in the fighting.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/742628.html
While elements of the Lebanese government may have known…and I emphasize may…it would not have had official sanction. According to the interview it didnt.
As well, it would have happened anyway.
Nothing is simple in this region, and I wouldnt expect a simple answer. Israeli incursions to get rid of Hesbo is understandable, but there are limits.
Question is can you really get rid of them….only if the acumn can be filled legitimate soldiers from a legitimate Lebanese government.
Israel doesnt want to occupy, cant afford to occupy….if the Lebanese or Nato do not fill the void then Hesbo will be back in 2 years.
My preference is a Lebanese soldiers from a legitimate and functioning Lebanese government.
The broadcast medias portrayal of Lebanon as an innocent bystander continues, ignoring the fact that Hezbollah has 23 members in the Lebanese parliament, two cabinet ministers, an effective veto in that parliament, and, as Kate says, widespread support, particularly in the south where many of the wielders of Canadian passports lived full-time.
At another site, a commenter named Mary, who may or may not have been quoting an un-named historian who said — or maybe she said, clear attribution is not her strong point, but the point still stands — “In listening to those who concede Israel’s right to defend itself through the use of force but urge ‘proportionate response’, I wonder what they mean by a ‘proportionate response’..(..)..If the enemy is committed to the obliteration of your country, proportionate response would seem to mean that Israel should obliterate the Hezbollah. This is not, obviously, what the proponents of proportionate response mean.”
Israel, by defending itself, is completly missing the point.
Nasrallah is an idiot. The second bloodiest war in history was waged over the death of one old man and his wife – and Nasrallah thinks that the abduction of two soldiers can’t start a war?
What a pathetic mongrel.
Did you see the Fox news about Israel spying in the US and that they were selling drugs cocaine and ecstasy in large quantities. They had the DEA and other cops phone numbers and knew before hand what was going on and most got away.They sold these drugs all over North America. Terrorists is what Israel is and thats all they do is cause trouble around the world.
True Jews wouldn’t even Vote in an Israeli election.
So there’s more to those 5 Israeli’s Dancing and celebrating on the roof top on 9/11.
Fox News
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAoe26MaTew&search=fox%20news
the example is the tail wagging the dog.
quebec hasnt used terror for a few years. but they did repatriate one of the terrorists. is october 1970 so long ago?
Okay, this is getting ridiculous: The BBC is reporting – via an Israeli human rights group – that the Israeli army is now using human shields:
“The Israeli army has been accused of using Palestinian civilians as human shields in an operation in northern Gaza.
According to the Israeli human rights group, B’tselem, six civilians including two minors were subjected to the illegal tactic during an incursion into the town of Beit Hanoun last week.
…
Allegations over Israel’s use of human shields have surfaced before. The last time they made headlines was during Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank town of Jenin, four years ago.
The army denied its personnel systematically used civilians as human shields during that operation, but it did issue an order outlawing the practice. As did the Israeli High Court.
…
B’tselem says it is investigating reports of other, similar incidents in Gaza during the past month.”
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5212870.stm
>>”Last time I checked attempted murder of Red Cross paramedics was not a Canadian value; neither is apartheid, terrorism, torture, ethnic cleansing, or human trafficking. These don’t appear to be British values either:”
Well if you check Caledonia, Ont there appears to be at least 3 of those ‘values’ at work.
“Apartheid, terrorism, and ethnic cleansing”
Somebody in Canada feels valued….
We train others how to treat us. In the past, Israel has trained Hezbollah and others that they will respond “in kind”, not with overwhelming force. In a close relationship, it is possible to redefine the rules of the relationship. In an antagonistic one such as this, the only way to retrain is to display the new response. Now, it becomes a matter of consistency with the response.
Israel must continue to show that the rules have changed, and in doing so, it will discourage these kinds of transgressions by Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations. Of course, they could just keep on going and clean out the terrorist filth that has been polluting the ME for so long. Good luck on that, mind you. But good luck, to be sure.
Penny “davie – not sure what your point is, but we’ve been in WWIII for a few years now”
Sorry but WW III has not yet started.
France has not surrendered.
Sorry . . . couldn’t resist. . .
Greenmamba, I believe what Nasrallah what he said purely for tactical reasons, which leads to skepticism about the truth of what he says. Nasrallah is no idiot–he must have expected a strong Israeli action. What I think he did not expect was that the Israelis would make good progress against the Hezbollah militia and that he expected to show up the Israelis in battle, gaining an incredible bump in status as a strongman charismatic leader or a movement that must be reckoned with in regional politics. Now that Hezbollah militia are coming up short, his face-saving ploy (notice: after 14 days, not 2 days) is that the Israeli response could not have been reasonably anticipated.
Fred: “France has not surrendered”
Au contraire, mon frere. You don’t read much Mark Steyn, do you? France has already lost decisively with a whimper to its’ fiercely un-integratable radical muslim population. Remember the six week long Renault campfire jamboree last fall that led to endless self deprecating capitulation by France’s leadership?
It’s really not much different than what happened after the German endrun of the Maginot line…just taking longer to materialize. The result will be the same as France changes back into it’s ole’ anti-semitic Vichy self.
4 UN observers reported killed in southern Lebanon
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called upon the Israeli government to launch an investigation into an air strike that killed as many as four UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. more »
maybe one of those posts with Hezbollah flags.
Neutralsam, your conclusions are so off the mark, that one must question whether you even listened to your link.
Israel, as a country, did NOT sell drugs, as you claim.
It clearly says that it was an Israeli *organized* criminal element.
Every country has citizens who cannot resist illegal actions for profit.
The spying was separate from the organized crime issue.
Don’t you suppose every country has intelligence going on all around the world?
No other country could be more interested in what is being planned against them, or their allies, than Israel.
They were watching *Arab elements*, in the United States, to see what they had up their sleeves, to come with against Israel as a country.
You would not intentionally attempt to mis-inform, would you?
CNN Reporter Admits Being Hizballah Tool
CNN’s senior international correspondent Nic Robertson admitted on Sunday that his anti-Israel report on civilian casualties in Lebanon was stage-managed from start to finish by Hizballah terrorists: CNN’s Robertson Now Admits: Hezbollah ‘Had Control’ of His Anti-Israel Piece.
Back on July 18, Hezbollah …-
via LGF
BTW, pundits are calling the war:
“Kofi Annan’s War”.
One of the UN people killed by an Israeli bomb was a Canadian.
——————————————————————————–
“A senior Lebanese military official says one was a Canadian. The other observers are from Austria, China and Finland the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release the information to the media”
As for Nic Robertson–who is calling the shots on the pro-Israeli media reports?
Bob, neutralsam, george.. FOAD or at least move to Tehran to be with your spiritual leader.
bob at 5:56 A little thin on proof there wouldn’t you say? Oh yes I remember the “Jenin massacre”,which turned out to be more BS and I note at 2:10 you brought up the King David Hotel. Sixty years ago? Gee I wonder can we hold the rest of the world to your same exacting standards? Those damn Germans/ Russians/ Japanese/ Americans / Chinese, and I do seem to remember a certain group of soldiers beating a fifteen year old to death in a certain African country. And I also remember the first casualty of war, do you?
So some UN observers (including a Canadian) get wiped in an Israeli measured responses, it’s all over the MSM (including the esteemed Fox,) but SDA regulars are tongue-tied.
What’s the matter? Waiting for political direction on what spin to put on this bit of news?
What the hell were U.N. people observing? These people at the so called united nations are bunch of very foolish and very dangerous people. They side with terrorist, despots and thieves. Then they cry when they send thier people into a war zone and get killed. Someone needs to tell this fool Annan to go home and shut up. Take his son and thier pilfered money and retire.
agitfact:
What’s the matter? Waiting for political direction..
Do you think that Israel would deliberately target a UN post? Even if Israelis are all evil demons, you’d think they’d be somewhat circumspect with the treatment they’re getting from the media.
The real story is that Kofi right away said it was “apparently deliberate.”
The same Kofi who called in Israel’s UN ambassador to criticize Israel’s Gaza strikes what seems so long ago. The ambassador protested, “but what about the rockets they’ve been firing – you never said anything.”
Kofi: “What rockets.”
Nothing that Kofi Annan says has any credibility whatsoever. Too bad the useful idiots in the MSM are still quoting him as though he had a leg to stand on.
I can’t understand, when his complicity in the Oil for Food scandal is well known, as is his son’s outright profiting from it, just for starters, why the guy is still in business or, for that matter, why the U.N. is…? The U.N. is part of most world problems, which makes it laughable that idiots are still calling for its intervention in Lebanon–and that the U.N. actually has “observers” there.
Another report from the front lines of:
“Kofi Annan’s War”. …-
UN Repairing Roads for Hizballah
This might be the jawdropper of the day, as today’s report from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon shows that they are busily repairing damaged roads in Hizballah-controlled areas—roads the IAF bombed specifically to impede Hizballah movement—right in the middle of the war. (Hat tip: mich-again.)
UNIFIL is still facing serious restrictions in its freedom of movement due to the ongoing hostilities and the extensive destruction of roads and bridges throughout the area of operation. Yesterday, a UNIFIL engineering contingent from China managed to do some repairs on a key road artery between Tyre and Naqoura, and the road is now usable for traffic. However, more road destruction was reported in various areas in the south. via LGF
agitfact – you want some spin.
here – the UN observers were like Captain Peter (wrongway) Peachfuzz. they were looking the opposite direction. As observers they should have noticed the buildup of forces on both sides of the border and made an observation more deserving than a memo to self on a post it note.
agitfact:
Unfortunately for those that were killed, this best illustrates the consequences of doing nothing (except for maybe scamming dollars, rape, etc).
“Waiting for political direction on what spin to put on this bit of news?”
No need – most could see it coming … it’s like commenting on a sunrise … like it’s a complete surprise.
melwilde, perhaps they were making another movie.
“Relations between Israel and the United Nations plummeted after information emerged that U.N. peacekeepers on the Lebanon border suppressed video tapes of three soldiers being abducted by Hezbollah guerrillas in 2000.
UNIFIL denied the charge, but the U.N. later admitted “unintentionally” concealing evidence from Israel.
The video – made by UN peacekeepers about 18 hours after three Israeli soldiers were abducted in October – shows vehicles allegedly used by Hezbollah guerrillas.
The tape is also reported to show the faces of guerrillas who prevented the UN peacekeepers from salvaging the vehicles as evidence.
UN denial
After months of denying the existence of the footage, last week the UN offered to give Israel a censored copy – with faces blurred – in response to demands from the Israeli Government.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1451957.stm
And why it is entirely likely that UN observers were killed by Israeli bombs. Kind of like living near Jane and Finch. Bad neighbours.
“In diplomatic meetings with the U.S. and France in the past weeks, a series of complaints about UNIFIL were brought up: The UN force maintains a permanent dialogue with Hezbollah, chiefly because of UNIFIL’s own interest in survival; in many places along the Israel-Lebanon border, Hezbollah has posts and positions adjacent to UNIFIL positions; deployment of the force serves as an excuse for the Lebanese government not to deploy in the south, as required by UN Security Council resolutions; and UNIFIL treats the IDF as equivalent to the Hezbollah terrorist organization when reporting violations of the cease-fire”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=623427
Everyone take a deep fawking breath and try and remember that a Canadian Officer might have lost his life. If this Officer is who I believe it is he is a deeply dedicated and exceptional leader of men. Lets let the dust settle and see what the hell happened.
Time to pick sides, folks. Israel is delibrately targeting Canadian UN peacekeepers and Red Cross workers and anyone who says otherwise is damn near committing treason, not to mention dishonouring a dead Canadian soldier.
“Sunil Ram, a defence and security analyst, told CTV Newsnet that the Israelis had shelled the base at least 14 times before bombing it with what was clearly a guided bomb.
“UN posts like this are very well marked. The Israelis knew it was there; it’s been there for years.
“But then when the Indians tried to send a rescue mission in there, they then shelled the troops who were trying to get to the post. So how much more deliberate do you want it to be?”
On Monday, vans marked with Red Crosses had come under fire.”
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060724/israel_fighting_060725/20060725?hub=TopStories
Supporting Israel is the equivilent of pissing on the Canadian War Memorial and the grave of the Unknown Soldier.
A treat to read this thread without all the usual long-winded basement know it alls from some long forgotten debating team.
I’m sorry bob. If you would only bother doing a bit of research you would know that hezbollah is famous for locating its bases and installations not only in civillian areas but also right next to UN positions as well so blow it out your a$$. And if you had been in the room and said “Supporting Israel is the equivilent of pissing on the Canadian War Memorial and the grave of the Unknown Soldier.” you would now be picking yourself up off the floor sans teeth.
Sometimes I wonder if Kofi, Bob and Agitfact belong to the same cel.. er club?
Well I pilfer a bit too. Like this comment that seemed to provide a bit of light..
=====
Iran aside, there hasn’t been a really noisy response from the Moslem world about Israel’s military operations against Lebanon.
Notably subdued is the response from the Arab countries; it’s mostly been mumbling about the plight of the Palestinians and such. Could this mean that the principal Arab leaders are not all that unhappy to see Hizbollah get it in the neck?
After all, most of the Arabs are Sunni, while Hizbollah and Iran are Shia. The exception that proves the rule is Syria, which has a Shia leadership.
But most Arabs fear Iran, not because most Iranians are Shia, but because Iranians are not Arabs. Iran has been the regional superpower for over three thousand years. Iran is building nuclear weapons.
Iran is backing Shia Arab factions in Iraq that would support turning Iraq into an Iranian ally.
[Muqtada al Sadr / TG]
Also scary is the fact that Iran is currently run by a religious dictatorship. Most Arabs have noted how that worked in Iran, Sudan, and Afghanistan and want no part of it. Worse, the Iranian religious leadership believes that they would do a better job running the Hejaz.
Swiped, without shame, from Voxs Den or –
-ttp://CedarsAwakening.blogspot.com
This seems to ring true. Do you think so? = TG
Bob, You have crossed the boundary of fair and reasoned debate with your comment concerning the War Memorial and the Unknown Soldier Tomb, We all await your apology.