Tuesday, April 24, 2001

By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes

Jon R. Anderson / Stars and Stripes For almost two decades, the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) has played an important role in preventing hostilities between Israel and Egypt.

Perhaps just when it’s needed most, the United States is considering pulling the plug on an often forgotten peacekeeping mission in the Middle East.

Based along Egypt’s desert frontier with Israel, the Multinational Force and Observers — or MFO — may stop observing as early as 2002.

Following through on his campaign pledge to scale back overseas missions, President Bush wants to find ways to reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed around the world, said Pentagon spokesman Adm. Craig P. Quigley.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld informed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minsister Ariel Sharon of Bush’s intentions during their recent visits to Washington.

Legally, the United States cannot withdraw from the mission without the approval of both Israel and Egypt.

In 1979, then-President Jimmy Carter brought together the old enemies at Camp David, where they created a formula for peace. The treaty, signed by the United States, Egypt and Israel, promised equal aid to both countries and created the MFO. Under the Camp David Accords provisions, the peacekeeping mission began in 1982 as Israel withdrew from the Sinai territory it captured during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Ever since, the United States has rotated a fresh battalion of light-infantry troops into the southern Sinai every six months, along with about 300 support soldiers in the north, who stay for one-year tours. Ten other nations contribute military personnel to the peacekeeping effort.

Typically, the infantry battalions come from the 10th Mountain, 25th Infantry and 82nd and 101st airborne divisions.

Currently, the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment — part of the Hawaii-based, 25th Infantry Division — is keeping watch throughout the desert.

Discussions over withdrawing from the MFO are nothing new for the U.S. Army. Reportedly stretched thin with worldwide missions from the Balkans and Korea to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, top leaders have eyed dropping the MFO for at least the past three years.

Egyptians and Israelis have lived in peace for a generation now, critics of the mission say, and there have been no significant violations of the treaty in years.

This latest announcement, however, comes as Arab-Israeli violence has dashed hopes for a wider peace in the region. Palestinians — who have ranged from rock throwers to suicide bombers — have clashed daily with Israeli military forces. In recent days, Israeli tanks even have rolled into parts of the Gaza Strip, one of the few slices of occupied territory Israel did not return to Egypt.

In fact, Fijian MFO peacekeepers along that stretch of the Sinai’s border, watch gun battles unfold day and night.

Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Israel months ago in protest over the violence and so the MFO also serves as one of the only conduits for diplomatic exchanges between the two countries, say MFO commanders.

"We have a Cold Peace right now between Egypt and Israel," said one senior U.S. officer in the MFO recently, shortly before the announcement. "If this mission were shut down now, there is still enough distrust between the two countries that at the very least you’d see sharp rise in the military presence along the borders."

At the very worst?

"History has already shown us what the worst-case scenario in this part of the world can be," the officer said.

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