(Harpers)Source: Bush Administration Considers Troop Deployment in Lebanon

[sabra]

http://harpers.org/sb-source-bush-admin-lebanon-1153936109.html

Source: Bush Administration Considers Troop Deployment in Lebanon
Posted on Wednesday, July 26, 2006. By Ken Silverstein.

SourcesThere's much discussion of putting a multinational, NATO-led force in southern Lebanon as part of a ceasefire agreement in the Israel–Lebanon conflict, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to a story in the Washington Post, has said that she does “not think that it is anticipated that U.S. ground forces . . . are expected for that force.” However, a well-connected former CIA officer has told me that the Bush Administration is in fact considering exactly such a deployment.

The officer, who had broad experience in the Middle East while at the CIA, noted that NATO and European countries, including England, have made clear that they are either unwilling or extremely reluctant to participate in an international force. Given other nations' lack of commitment, any “robust” force—between 10,000 and 30,000 troops, according to estimates being discussed in the media—would by definition require major U.S. participation. According to the former official, Israel and the United States are currently discussing a large American role in exactly such a “multinational” deployment, and some top administration officials, along with senior civilians at the Pentagon, are receptive to the idea.

The uniformed military, however, is ardently opposed to sending American soldiers to the region, according to my source. “They are saying 'What the fuck?'” he told me. “Most of our combat-ready divisions are in Iraq or Afghanistan, or on their way, or coming back. The generals don't like it because we're already way overstretched.”

Sending American soldiers is at this point simply an option and by is no means a certainty, but if the administration decides to move forward, my source said, “It would be viewed in the Arab world as the United States picking up a combat role on behalf of Israel.” And as Mahan Abedin, Director of Research at the Centre for the Study Of Terrorism in London, noted in an email he sent me yesterday, any deployment of peacekeepers to southern Lebanon “would require the acquiescence of Hezbollah. There are no indications this will be forthcoming, not least because such a force could potentially lay the groundwork for Hezbollah's disarmament.”

[ShortnFiery]

1. NoWAY! Out of Iraq into Lebanon !

Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Hell no! :grr:

[maxsolomon]

2. there's no way

that's a recipe for WW3.

now that i think about it, that's probably the plan.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!!!!!!!

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

[snappyturtle]

4. Insanity reigns! nt

[rodeodance]

5. NEWT et. al. get their wish?

[ShortnFiery]

7. Let Newt and Rush shag their fat asses to Lebanon.

Don't send our beloved USA troops to go fight their bloated Neo-Conservative war. :grr:

[blonndee]

6. Would be an absolute disaster.

"Overstretched" is a gross understatement.

[BeHereNow]

8. Wonder what the troops will have to say about this plan?

"Let the mutiny begin..."
I hope this will be the move that
motivates the military to tell the neocons to go fuck themselves.
I can dream, can't I?


BHN

[blonndee]

10. I know of one and what he might say.

Same thing he says about Iraq. Don't know what he would DO, though. I imagine he would follow orders if compelled to do so. :-(

[OhioChick]

9. Bad, bad idea. n/t

[The Magistrate]

11. This Is A Very Bad Idea, Sir

U.S. troops in such a force would be a magnet for attack by Hezbollah, and other jihadi organizations.

[Lance_Boyle]

13. Which is only a bad idea to *sane* people.

Anti-sane people might think this is a perfect way to incite "a(nother) new Pearl Harbor."

[lapfog_1]

14. This is because we want to

be targets for them over there so we don't have to be targets for them over here.

And it worked so well in the past when we had marines in Lebanon.

[Leopolds Ghost]

17. Better for Us to Die over There than Die here at Home! n/t

[sandnsea]

12. Stupidest idea ever

Whoever would consider this can't even be told to pull their head out because you couldn't even have a head to think of something so stupid.

[Mandate My Ass]

15. This is waving a red flag in front of a bull

There is no way this is anything but an incitement of escalating violence. Anybody who advocates this does not want Hezbollah to disarm. The loss of life will be breathtaking. x(

[Leopolds Ghost]

16. Bush is just following the game plan outlined in Revelations

It all makes sense if you assume he is, or believes himself to be, the Antichrist (or more likely someone behind him feels the same way).

Why, you're the sort of person who would have protested when the Dinosaurs went extinct! The world has to blow up some time... there's no more new lands to discover. Time to find new ways of making money by sowing chaos and discord.