← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Sertorius
Thread ID: 17269 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2005-03-12
2005-03-12 15:43 | User Profile
March 14, 2005
Mideast duty for U.S. troops may include Israel
Troops serving in and near the Middle East might want to start getting used to the scenery.
Lawmakers and top military commanders say 2005 could well be a pivotal year in the history of the unsettled region.
And they say the continued presence of tens of the thousands of American troops is helping to create an atmosphere of stability and U.S. commitment ââ¬â so much so that there is even growing talk of troops taking part in any Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, renewed his longstanding call for NATO and U.S. troops to take part in an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.
The death in November of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has set the stage for renewed movement in the creation of a Palestinian state. And Warner said a NATO force with strong U.S. participation would be viewed as evenhanded in the volatile region because many of NATOââ¬â¢s European allies have strong ties to Palestinian Arabs while the United States is viewed as a strong backer of Israel.
Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, NATOââ¬â¢s top commander in Europe, said heââ¬â¢s heard growing informal discussions at senior diplomatic levels in recent weeks about a possible NATO force for an Israeli-Palestinian accord.
ââ¬ÅWhen things get talked about at that level, my ears pick up,ââ¬Â Jones said at a March 1 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
At the hearing, Jones also told Warner he has been given ââ¬Åno additional taskââ¬Â to plan for a possible Israel peacekeeping mission. Still, the informal talk is reminiscent of discussion he heard in early 2003 that led to NATO participation in the Afghanistan mission, he said.
Iraqââ¬â¢s Jan. 30 elections appear to have set the tone for growing movements of political reform throughout the region, Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, said at the hearing, adding that 2005 ââ¬Åcan be a decisive year for us,ââ¬Â an assessment echoed by several senior senators.
However, Abizaid cautioned that ââ¬Ånothing in the Middle East moves in a straight lineââ¬Â and that numerous setbacks could lie ahead.
ââ¬ÅAs optimistic as I am, and as revolutionary as the times may be, we should not underestimate our enemies in the region,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅThere is fighting ahead. We should not kid ourselves.ââ¬Â
The performance of Iraqi security forces during the elections ââ¬Åprovided a glimpse of how good they can be,ââ¬Â Abizaid said, but the Iraqis must make significant progress in creating lines of communication and control between their new government and the military.
U.S. troop levels in Iraq peaked at more than 159,000 in late January, about 20,000 above pre-election levels. Abizaid said a massive U.S. unit rotation is underway that will reduce U.S. combat power by mid-March from 20 brigades to 17 brigades. But he was hesitant to commit to a timeline for further reductions.
Copyright é 2005
I'm not surprised by this. The Israelis have wanted to drag us into the middle of this mess for years. Once there, the Americans will have a repeat of the problems dealing with the Israelis they did back in the early '80 in Lebanon. Maybe the Armed Forces can recruit those whose presence is missing from Iraq seeing how this is for their real country.
On top of this we already have one US battalion in the Sinai.
2005-03-14 08:05 | User Profile
It's about time we went into Israel! :gunsmilie
But just one question... why aren't we sending bombers to soften them up first before deploying troops?
2005-03-16 14:22 | User Profile
Drakmal,
Under a strick interpretation of the "Bush Doctrine", url=http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm[/url] Israel should be targetted for "Regime Change." The only problem is everytime the U.S. does something like that we get swamped with refugees from the targetted country. We already have plenty of Jews as things stand, so maybe we should do this instead. We cut off the sugar tit to them and make the diaspora pony up the money to the parasitical state. Then they wouldn't have so much money to use to screw with the rest of us here.