United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, is really anything but interim. It was founded in 1978, in the wake of an Israeli occupation of Lebanon, but numbered just 3,000 through last summer's war between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL was powerless to intercede in that conflict and even lost four troops killed in Israeli attacks. A renewed U.N. mandate after the August ceasefire resulted in the force nearly quadrupling in size and adding heavier weapons, a strong naval contingent and better surveillance assets.

But the force's most effective weapons are still its relationships, forged over decades and reinforced in the aftermath of the summer war. Local residents approach U.N. patrols with information; the patrols deal with the situations themselves or pass the info to nearby Lebanese armed forces - "LAF," in U.N. terminology.

"There is very good cooperation," says Italian army Lieutenant Colonel Ciccarelli Giordano, commander of a highly decorated cavalry regiment that has done tours in the Balkans and, more recently, in Iraq.

On December 18, a two-vehicle patrol from Giordano's regiment descends from the regiment's hilltop base near the town of Chama and heads down a seaside road. Periodically, it stops and soldiers hop out of the armored vehicles to

stand on the side of the road, making themselves visible to passing motorists.

"They stay here to observe and to report every kind of situation," says Lieutenant Livio Lombardi. "Sometimes [people] ask for us to intervene ... in medical problems or in the presence of bombs [leftover from the summer war].

If we have another kind of situation that is strange for the patrol commander, we very quickly ask for cooperation from the LAF."

"In the past, when there were hotspots, they came very fast and were very reliable," Giordano says of the Lebanese forces. He adds that his troops are

looking forward to more closely training alongside native troops. "We are tuning these activities. In the future, we will train together ... to be ready for all problems."

Those problems might include another Israeli incursion or an uprising by Hezbollah, which enjoys strong support from local residents. Paradoxically, the same locals who support Hezbollah don't seem to mind UNIFIL. The U.N. force walks a fine line between the conflicting interests of Israel, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. But its main mission is clear: to deter conflict.

"With the number we are [now], we can see everything that is happening," Giordano says. "There is no space for other people to do things. The presence of the U.N. on the ground is very important."

But Giordano's expressed commitment to preventing another war in Lebanon has yet to be tested. It's one thing to liaise between Lebanese civilians and their armed forces; it's quite another to stop a determined drive by an Israeli tank brigade.