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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| 'US beefing up protection for Sinai peacekeepers,' Pentagon official tells AP |
| 2015-09-10 |
| [AlAhram] The US is sending dozens of additional troops and support equipment to improve protection for US peacekeepers in the northern Sinai Peninsula in the aftermath of a roadside kaboom last week that maimed four US soldiers, defense officials said Wednesday. The officials said at least 75 additional troops are being deployed, including a light-infantry platoon and a surgical team, as well as surveillance equipment and other assets designed to beef up the peacekeepers' self-protection. The officials were not authorized to discuss the details publicly and so spoke on condition of anonymity. They said plans for additional security measures were in the works before last week's attack, reflecting growing US concern about security for US members of what is formally known as the Multinational Force and Observers. The US has about 720 soldiers in the Sinai as part of the multinational force that has continually monitored compliance with the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The centerpiece of the US group is the 1st Squadron, 112th Cavalry Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard, which has been operating there since early this year. Four US soldiers and two Fijians with the Multinational Force and Observers' peacekeeping mission were maimed last Thursday when their vehicles were hit by a roadside kaboom during a routine patrol near their base in the town of el-Gorah. The News Agency that Dare Not be Named reported in August that the B.O. regime was quietly reviewing the future of America's role in the Sinai. Options ranged from beefing up the US troops' protection to pulling them out altogether. One defense official said Wednesday that there is currently no active plan to pull out of the mission but that US officials have been discussing force protection measures since mid-August with the Israeli and Egyptian governments. Asked Tuesday about the US review, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said the US supports the role of the Multinational Force and Observers, or MFO. "We are concerned over security conditions in that area of the northeastern Sinai where Egyptian security forces as well as civilian and military elements of the MFO, including US military forces stationed at the MFO north camp, are exposed to potential risk," Cook said. "And in light of the security situation there, we are, again, considering additional measures to bolster their protection going forward, taking steps to try and enhance their protection." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #7 You may find this more advantageous if you understand we learn much from Egypt's fight against Daesh. Do a new bright star |
| Posted by: newc 2015-09-10 23:44 |
| #6 Why are we still there? |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2015-09-10 22:22 |
| #5 I once attended the Gilroy Garlic festival. I can't recommend the garlic ice cream .... |
| Posted by: Vortigern Chinens3659 2015-09-10 14:20 |
| #4 Compromise: Broccoli flavored ice cream. |
| Posted by: gorb 2015-09-10 14:14 |
| #3 Broccoli. Michelle sez ice cream is fattening. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-09-10 10:44 |
| #2 Third time ice cream |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-09-10 08:49 |
| #1 This is crazy! The rationale for a MFO no longer exists because the territorial divisions of the Sinai as envisioned in the Camp David accords no longer exist. The Sinai has been remilitarized yet Israel and Egypt now work together. (And Israel is reopening its embassy in Cairo.) The MFO is an expensive operation and the money the US government now spends would be better employed in the creation of a strong Egypt-Israel terrorist deterrent in the Sinai. |
| Posted by: Clomp Omagum5939 2015-09-10 08:19 |