U.S. Troops Needed, Say Experts
NewsMax.com, April 2, 2002
U.S. Troops Needed, Say Experts
Dave Eberhart, NewsMax
Tuesday, April 2, 2002
Looking to free-up more combat troops for the war on terrorism, Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress just a month ago that he would
like to slash the U.S. commitment to the Multinational Forces and Observers
(MFO) that patrols the Egypt-Israel border from about 900 American troops
to less than 30. Since the accelerated Israeli-Palestinian turmoil, however,
no more has been heard on the proposed reduction.
Furthermore, Gen. Anthony Zinni, the U.S. special
envoy to the Middle East, has been telling Congress and anyone else who
will listen that any eventual cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority must be monitored by an international peacekeeping force -- supplemented
by what Zinni has reportedly described as "a very limited number” of U.S.
troops.
It is unclear at this point if any of those proposed
U.S. peacekeeping troops would be drawn from the cadre already in the Sinai
as part of the MFO.
Recently, Egyptian political commentator Gehad Auda
said that Arab concern over the American pro-Israeli stance in the now
stalled mediation, counter-indicates any withdrawal of U.S. troops from
border duties in the Sinai. "That would give a dramatic and bad signal
... the United States is not committed to peace,” Auda argued.
Egypt, which blames Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon for the current turmoil, has resisted efforts to reduce the American
presence in the Sinai, maintaining that having international forces on
the border promotes stability in troubled times. Conversely, Israel has
signaled no difficulty with a U.S. withdrawal.
The MFO was set up by Egypt, Israel and the U.S.
to monitor the 1978 Camp David peace accord. The force patrols the Sinai,
a triangle of desert, which Egypt lost to Israel in the 1967 war and regained
via a U.S.-brokered peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Israel withdrew from
the Sinai three years after the treaty with Egypt. The MFO, which flies
a distinctive orange flag, was then fielded to ensure the peace.
11 Nation Force
The American contingent to the MFO presently accounts for about half
of the total 1,836 soldiers, sailors, pilots and other uniformed members
of the 11-nation Multinational Force and Observers.
However, the Washington Times reported recently
that the Army School of Advanced Military Studies’ plan for enforcing a
Palestinian-Israeli peace accord would require about 20,000 armed troops
scattered throughout Israel and any Palestinian state. Among the troops
duties would be to make sure Palestinian terror suspects were detained
and were not quietly released afterward.
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., recently said
he would consider U.S. troops as peacekeepers in the Middle East -- after
a lasting cease-fire was established. "In that context, yes, and with European
forces as well,” said Biden.
Those "European” forces described by Biden, however,
might well be peacekeepers from such unlikely nations as Fiji and Colombia,
which presently contribute the largest contingents to the Sinai’s MFO --
after the United States.
Fiji has traditionally been very gung-ho about its
role in the Sinai, perennially winning many of the competitive field events
held as part of joint military exercises.
Last month in Budapest, General Janos Isaszegi,
All Army Command Post Commander, bid farewell with great ceremony to a
group of Hungarian army and police officers, departing to serve a one-year
term with the MFO in the Sinai. The group of 12 soldiers and six police
officers joined the Hungarian contingent of 41 members on duty along the
Egyptian-Israeli border.
Sharing the Burden
The U.S., Egypt and Israel provide the lion’s share of the Sinai force’s
$51 million annual budget -- sharing the burden equally. Japan, Germany
and Switzerland also contribute.
Last month Vice President Dick Cheney visited with
U.S. troops of the MFO as he toured the Middle East. Despite the stated
intentions of the secretary of defense to emasculate the U.S. detachment,
Chaney declared, "This region is both the site of many conflicts and one
of the critical centers of American interest - economic, military and political.”
Rumsfeld told Congress that much of the present
U.S. MFO contingent duties, consisting of patrols, manning checkpoints
and reconnaissance, "can be done by others with our help and encouragement.”
In commenting about the Egyptian reluctance to let
the Americans depart the MFO, John Hirsch, vice president of the New York-based
International Peace Academy and a former adviser to U.N. peacekeepers in
Somalia, said, "I sort of understand the Egyptian concern, but I personally
believe that more and more of the burden rests on the countries involved.”
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