The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times all have published editorials criticizing the French for not living up to the 'understanding' that France would lead the UN mission in Lebanon. There's no comment about Ireland's decision to not send any troops.
For different reasons, both France and Ireland exalt the UN. Well, it seems pretty clear that for all that exalting both nations have enough sense to recognize that the UN is really not much more than a talk shop & humanitarian outlet and that serious military missions are beyond it. This is a serious military mission with a real chance of losses and eventual failure.
