Obama advisors want NATO troops in West Bank

Date: 03 / 12 / 2008 Time: 20:55
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

US President-elect Barack Obama is considering a deployment of NATO forces to the West Bank as part of a plan for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict, an American newsmagazine reported on Wednesday.

Former US-national security advisors Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski reportedly endorsed the strategy in recent days. Meanwhile, Obama's nominee to head the National Security Council, Gen. James Jones, apparently favors the idea, all according to Newsweek, a weekly American newsmagazine.

"A principle that appeared to be out of bounds I think is now in bounds," said Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy from the International Quartet countries.

Israel has long argued that the country cannot deal with Palestine until the Palestinian Authority (PA) manages to control militants. And Palestinians complain that they cannot conciously ask militias to disarm so long as Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and East Jerusalem. But a NATO force, Obama's advisors argue, would bridge the impasse on both sides.

"But then it's not clear how NATO could prevent the Israelis from taking matters into their own hands," according to the Newsweek report, if Palestinian fighters began "picking off" NATO soldiers.

"And should all-out fighting resume--this is, remember, one of the world's most intractable conflicts--NATO could be drawn into the middle," the article goes on to say.

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