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| Middle East |
| Bush administration sets guidelines for peacekeepers |
| 2002-04-23 |
| The Bush administration has established guidelines for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Officials said the administration has agreed to the deployment of several hundred troops from several countries who would serve as monitors of any ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. They said the peacekeepers would begin as a small force of about 100 and then expand according to circumstances on the ground. "We're not talking large numbers of troops," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "We're talking about some small numbers of people that we would draw, perhaps from our diplomatic presence there, or send in some other individuals from the State Department and/or other government agencies." Powell has obtained pledges from several European Union countries to participate in the peacekeeping force. This includes military personnel from Britain and Germany. Can't see why they'd want to waste good British and German troops in such a project. The PA has been wanting something like this for awhile, looking for something like UNIFIL in Lebanon. They're looking forward to blowing up some barracks. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |