Bush makes plea for peacekeepers
WASHINGTON – President Bush issued an urgent call Monday for nations to join an international peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, and he pledged $230 million to help rebuild the war-ravaged country.
The president emphasized that establishing the peacekeeping operation in Lebanon is critical to maintaining the fragile week-old cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants. The 34 days of war between them raised fears that the violence might spread throughout the Middle East, alarming financial markets sensitive to threats to the global oil trade.
“The need is urgent,” Bush said, calling for deployment “as quickly as possible.”
The president’s appeal for help in Lebanon came as diplomats at the United Nations struggled to assemble a peacekeeping force and define its rules of engagement. The first 3,500 members of a proposed 15,000-member force are supposed to arrive in Lebanon by Monday, but volunteers have been slow in coming.
Italy offered 2,000 troops on Monday, but other European countries – mindful that previous peacekeeping missions got trapped in shooting war zones – have been reluctant to commit until diplomats provide clear rules of engagement. Especially worrisome is who’ll have responsibility for disarming Hezbollah and under what terms.
“Why would any sane person want to put their peacekeepers in this kind of situation?” said Aaron Miller, a Middle East expert at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a foreign-policy institute in Washington, and a former adviser to six secretaries of state. “Lebanon has proven to be the graveyard so many times of best intentions and committed efforts to do this sort of thing.”
Although France had been expected to lead the peacekeeping operation, it pledged just 200 troops and declined to take charge. Israel has objected to the participation of Muslim troops from Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries that don’t recognize Israel.
Bush seemed to concede that disarming Hezbollah wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Israel agreed to the cease-fire on Aug. 12 with the understanding that Hezbollah would give up its weapons.
Bush said the immediate goal is to establish a security buffer and prevent Hezbollah from replenishing its supply of rockets and other weapons.
At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton echoed Bush on the need for fast action on a peacekeeping force, but he declined to rate chances for success.
“It’s still a work in progress. I think that’s the best I can say,” he said. “The timing here remains critical. There’s no question about it.”
As for the $230 million in U.S. aid, Bush said it would be used to rebuild homes, roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure that was destroyed by Israeli bombing raids. The figure includes $50 million in humanitarian aid that’s already been delivered and $42 million to help train and equip the Lebanese army.