WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rumors of high level arm-wrestling have persisted since President George W. Bush named his Cabinet. Yesterday, the New York Times essentially confirmed the rumors, announcing that US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld “surprised” Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during his visit here last month when he revealed the Bush administration wanted to withdraw American soldiers serving as peacekeepers in the Sinai.
Sharon may have been surprised, but the announcement was a real shock for the State Department. It appears Secretary Rumsfeld neglected to inform State Department officials involved in shaping Middle East policy that the Bush administration wanted out. Needless to say, the State Department is not amused.
Rumors about the power struggle between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld have been persistent over the past several months.
Both men want their department to be favored by the president, and both want the president to favor them. One is viewed as a dove, the other a hawk. Regarding yesterday’s announcement, a State Department official told the New York Times that Rumsfeld had discussed the idea with Powell, adding it is not known if Powell endorsed it. Observers question whether Powell really was “in the loop.”
Rumsfeld’s idea to withdraw American peacekeeping soldiers from the Sinai corresponds with the Pentagon’s drive to reduce troop commitments abroad, administration officials said.
The unit, known as the Multinational Force and Observers, was set up in 1982 after the Camp David agreement in 1979, as part of the peace pact between Egypt and Israel. One thousand and nine hundred international soldiers currently make up the force, including 865 Americans.
The 2000 budget for the force was $51 million, the US contribution being $16 million.
Rumsfeld is also said to have discussed the possible removal of American peacekeeping forces from the Sinai with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, who was also in Washington last month.
Mubarak is said to have been opposed to the suggestion, saying the need for peacekeepers in the region was greater than ever, as the Palestinian-Israeli violence is escalating, and relations between Egypt and Israel are strained.
The Sinai force has been effective. Since its creation, there have been no major incidents along the Israel-Egypt border, which stretches from the Mediterranean Sea, through Sinai to the Gulf of Aqaba and back down to the Red Sea at Sharm El-Sheikh.
Word has it that Sharon was completely caught off guard with the proposal, while State Department officials are arguing that the withdrawal would only highlight what some in the region consider to be an “American retreat.”
Israel is expected to respond to Rumsfeld proposal when Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer visits Washington next month, the Times says.
“The discussion among the State Department, the Pentagon and the National Security Council on the wisdom of the Rumsfeld proposal has only just begun,” the Times quotes administration officials as saying. “It is too early to tell whether Mr. Rumsfeld will prevail.”
