This is almost comical, from the New York Times today:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who began a trip to the region on Monday with a quick first stop in Beirut, will hold an international meeting on the crisis in Rome on Wednesday, when a multinational force will be a prime topic. But she has already ruled out the participation of American troops…. But Britain has also made clear in private diplomatic exchanges that with thousands of its troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, it could not be counted on to send troops into still another theater.
As for France, which already has troops in Lebanon as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force known as Unifil, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy left his meetings with Israeli leaders on Sunday convinced that the idea of a new international force for Lebanon was “premature,” French officials said.
The European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said Monday in Brussels that an international force would not be “an easy force to deploy,” but added that talks were under way about such a force under a United Nations Security Council mandate.
“I think several member states of the European Union will be ready to provide all necessary assistance,” he said, but did not name the countries.
Mr. Solana is said to be wary of a NATO-led force, another senior European Union official said. “NATO is too identified with the United States,” the official said. “It would be Iraq all over again.”
At NATO headquarters, officials said they were taken by surprise by comments of Israeli officials that they would welcome a NATO-led force to secure their border.






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