Rumsfeld Seeks to Withdraw American Troops From Sinai
By JANE PERLEZ
The New York Times
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ASHINGTON, April 18
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld surprised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel during his visit here last month by telling him that the Bush administration wanted to withdraw the American soldiers serving as peacekeepers in Sinai, a move proposed as part of the Pentagon's drive to reduce troop commitments abroad, administration officials said.
State Department officials involved in shaping Middle East policy were not informed of Mr. Rumsfeld's proposal before he raised it with the Israeli leader. Mr. Rumsfeld discussed the idea with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, according to a State Department official, but it was not known whether General Powell endorsed it.
The unit, known as the Multinational Force and Observers, was set up in 1982 after the Camp David agreement in 1979 that sealed the peace between Egypt and Israel. The force of about 1,900 soldiers, including 865 Americans, is not under the United Nations flag.
Since the creation of the Sinai force, 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 down to the Red Sea at Sharm el Sheik.
Mr. Rumsfeld also discussed the possible American withdrawal from Sinai with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, when he visited the Pentagon earlier this month.
Mr. Mubarak was vocal in his opposition, citing the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and strained relations between Israel and Egypt, officials said.
In order to withdraw its forces, the United States must win the agreement of both Israel and Egypt.
Israeli diplomats said Mr. Sharon was taken aback by Mr. Rumsfeld's suggestion and briefly argued against it. Ultimately, he said he would go along with the proposal if a symbolic American presence remained, the Israelis said.
Some State Department officials have begun to argue that a withdrawal would underscore what is already seen by some in the region as an American retreat from the Middle East.
With heightened instability between Israel and the Palestinians, and fears of a wider regional conflict, State Department officials said they believed that a withdrawal in the coming months would be dangerous.
The Americans are the backbone of the force, along with soldiers from 10 other countries, including Colombia and Fiji, which are the biggest contributors after the United States. If the Americans withdrew or severely reduced their presence, other countries in the force would most likely be asked to increase their personnel and financial contributions, officials said.
The plan to withdraw the American forces was not outlined in any of the preparatory diplomatic papers drawn up before the Rumsfeld- Sharon meeting, and officials described it as unusual that a foreign leader would be presented with such a change of policy without forewarning.
The Israeli government is likely to give its formal answer to Mr. Rumsfeld when the Israeli defense minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, visits Washington next month, Israeli officials said. Egypt would reply at about the same time, Egyptian officials said.
Egypt, which in the past has been more open to a reduction in the American presence, is now particularly wary of a withdrawal during a period when Israel has a hawkish prime minister. The Egyptians withdrew their ambassador from Tel Aviv last fall in protest over the Israeli military actions against the Palestinians, and the ambassador has not returned.
Because the force has had little arduous work to do, it has been a target for possible elimination by the Pentagon for several years. Top Army officials told William S. Cohen when he was secretary of defense that the force should be withdrawn and the soldiers allowed to return to normal training.
But Mr. Cohen never raised the matter with either the Israelis or the Egyptians, and the Clinton White House was never keen to proceed with a cutback because of the signal it might send. In contrast, Mr. Rumsfeld used the first opportunity he could to try to eliminate American participation in the force, a senior Pentagon official said.
The Army has long complained about the time it takes to train, deploy and then reintegrate back into the Army infantry battalions that are sent to the desert on a six-month rotation. An infantry battalion of 529 soldiers is the centerpiece of the American effort and is supplemented by a support battalion of 309 soldiers.
Mr. Rumsfeld seized on the Sinai mission as an example of the kind of peacekeeping obligation that was an unnecessary drain on the overall military force, officials said.
He presented the withdrawal to both the Israeli and Egyptian leaders as a way to reduce the United States military presence abroad and avoided discussion of the political context, diplomats from both countries said.
The main target for the Pentagon is the infantry battalion and it is possible that the battalion could be withdrawn while some support units remain.
At the State Department, the major goal of Middle East experts was to prevent a precipitous reduction of American troops in the coming months, officials there said.
The discussion among the State Department, the Pentagon and the National Security Council on the wisdom of the Rumsfeld proposal has only just begun, administration officials said. It is too early to tell whether Mr. Rumsfeld will prevail, they added.
