Cargo of armed UN mines sparks El Al security alert in Canad

niss · Post by **niss** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:37 am

*

* Published 13:37 28.09.10
* Latest update 13:37 28.09.10

Cargo of armed UN mines sparks El Al security alert in Canada
Drama at Toronto airport over anonymous shipment of primed explosives - later revealed to be destined for the UN in Sinai.
By Yossi Melman Tags: Israel news

An explosive cargo sparked a security alert at a Toronto airport on Sunday before it emerged that a consignment of deadly landmines was bound for United Nations troops in Sinai - and was not part of a terror plot.

The cargo was destined to reach the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, and consisted mainly of training equipment.

But UN officials had apparently neglected to inform El Al, Israel's national carrier, about the transfer of the consignment copntaining military landmines, some of them primed to detonate, toToronto's Pearson International Airport,

The anonymous weapons shipment sparked a high alert and El Al refused to allow the containers aboard its Tel Aviv-bound plan, handing them to Canadian forces for examination.

El Al refused to comment directly on the incident, but in an official statement emphasized that all cargo carried by the company undergoes meticulous security checks.

No El Al flights were delayed as a result of the incident.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-d ... a-1.316179

conehead · Post by **conehead** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:54 am

One wouldn't normally ship these "primed to explode", would one?

Nark · Post by **Nark** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:14 am

If I learned anything trying to stay awake in my recent HazMat course, that would be it.

I thought the UN was just full of actors? You know, dudes who dress up like soldiers, patrol, but refrain from any combat? ie Somalia, Croatia, Rwanda, etc....

What a useless organization.

niss · Post by **niss** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:50 am

Why would the UN in the Sinai need mines?

I didn't know that troop movement control was part of their mandate.

Canuck223 · Post by **Canuck223** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 12:34 pm

Odds are they are of the Claymore type, which are not buried, and are command detonated or set off by tripwire.

They are used to re-enforce a secure position. AFAIK, they are the only type of mine still in use by Canada.

As for being primed, I find that hard to believe. However, the seperate primers would most likely be shipped as a seperate parcel within the same cargo.

Apollo · Post by **Apollo** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 3:09 pm

Seems to me that they were of the training variety, and that the media has exaggerated the explosiveness of them. Typical.

Samson · Post by **Samson** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:37 pm

Nark wrote: What a useless organization.

Not every country thinks it's right to goes in and "help" people by forcing their political views on them and killing them if they disagree. Isn't there an AvAmerica or equivalent for you to post on?

Nark · Post by **Nark** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:45 pm

There is, and I do.

Again, please inform my ignorant American ways why the United Nations is so valuable.

bmc · Post by **bmc** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:34 pm

The UN is as effective as the member states want it to be.

If you're unaware of the good done by the UN, switch off Fox and do some research.

Moose47 · Post by **Moose47** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 7:24 am

My friend in Mossad had it right. UN stands for United Nothing!

Nark · Post by **Nark** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:06 am

bmc wrote:The UN is as effective as the member states want it to be.

If you're unaware of the good done by the UN, switch off Fox and do some research.

You know, I don't trust the news at all, but I believe what Fox tells me over what the UN says. Enron was a better run enterprise than the UN.

I can think of at least 4 missions in Africa alone that the UN screwed up, and we (not personally but USMC) had to be called in to pull people out. Small scale stuff that never made Fox.

The TSA is more effective in their mission.

godsrcrazy · Post by **godsrcrazy** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:09 am

I have a good friend that flew UN missions. He once told me it wasn't uncommon to fly grain for them. Oh i should clarify he meant 50mm grain.

Moose47 · Post by **Moose47** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 12:00 pm

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The UN is as effective as the member states want it to be.

If you're unaware of the good done by the UN, switch off Fox and do some research.<<<

Actually Fox is a lot more credible than CNN, MSNBC and the other left-leaning Obama worshiping 'lamestream' media.

By the way, ask General Romeo Dallaire what he thinks of the U.N. Or, the families of the slaughtered Belgian paratroopers.

http://www.orwelltoday.com/rwandabelgians3.shtml

Walker · Post by **Walker** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:36 pm

Just to step in on the UN thing for a minute...

I know everyone likes to rage on the UN for how ineffective the are etc.... However whats important to point out is although fixing Africa, making the Jews and Arabs friends, etc would all be great things to do; That's not really what it was set up to accomplish.
At the time of establishment it was meant to prevent another world war. And so far as I can tell there hasn't been an all out slug fest between two developed countries since...
So in that regard it HAS done its job, everything else is just gravy....

Mr. X · Post by **Mr. X** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:43 am

alctel · Post by **alctel** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:52 am

Moose47 wrote:
Actually Fox is a lot more credible than CNN, MSNBC and the other left-leaning Obama worshiping 'lamestream' media.

Really? You know this is the same 'news' channel that got a court injunction so their reporting wouldn't have to be actually factually correct and still count as 'news', right? The channel that employs Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin? And whose fact-checking is so woeful they often get the countries wrong of their stories and recently reported a story from the Onion as gospel truth? There are many reasons Fox News is a complete laughing stock.

Mind you, CNN and MSNBC are also both terrible, though I suspect my reasons for thinking so are different from yours.

Hedley · Post by **Hedley** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:28 am

Over the decades, the UN has proven itself to be of very dubious value.

Two incidents stick in my mind:

1) Rwanda genocide, overseen by UN
2) Iraq UN "food for oil" billion dollar corruption scandal

Google either of the above. You will be shocked at what you learn about the UN.

alctel · Post by **alctel** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 10:13 am

The UN provides a forum for countries to talk to each other, which is valuable by itself. Sometimes it does great things (pushing for rights of the child, landmine ban, Agenda 21, ending El Salvador civil war etc etc) and other times it screws up (Rwanda genocide, scandals).

The effectiveness of it greatly depends on who is running it at any point in time pretty much like any organisation, and the willingness of countries to work with it (i.e not sending John Bolton as your ambassador, although that was kinda hilarious), but overall its a giant force for good in the world.

Expat · Post by **Expat** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:29 am

So easy to slander something you know nothing about, except through second hand news, purposely reported for self-interest on a nation, or its financial backers...

Expat · Post by **Expat** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:34 am

Hedley wrote:Over the decades, the UN has proven itself to be of very dubious value.

Two incidents stick in my mind:

1) Rwanda genocide, overseen by UN
2) Iraq UN "food for oil" billion dollar corruption scandal

Google either of the above. You will be shocked at what you learn about the UN.

You would be shocked at what we know, and do not mention, to stay alive...