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Time to Reassess Sinai Peacekeeping Force

(New York Times) Editorial - Shortly after Washington brokered a landmark peace treaty with Egypt and Israel in 1979, the U.S. and allied countries deployed peacekeepers to Sinai. More than three decades after the establishment of the Multinational Force and Observers, which includes two American Army battalions, groups of Islamist extremists are clashing with Egyptian security forces in the peninsula. The violence, which has endangered and significantly restricted the mobility of the peacekeepers, is good reason to consider pulling them out of Sinai. Wilayat Sinai, a militant group that calls itself a local affiliate of the Islamic State, has referred to the peacekeepers as "crusader forces" that are backing Israel. The mission of the peacekeepers has become increasingly obsolete in recent years as Egypt, with Israel's consent, has deployed its own troops and heavy weaponry in Sinai to fight the militants. The peacekeepers are not currently playing a role that is instrumental enough to justify the perils they face.
2015-08-13 00:00:00
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