quote:
Originally posted by Dave the Wonder Boy:
[QBIf we send in peacekeeping forces to stop slaughter and establish peace and stability, we're labelled as tyrants. If we withdraw troops from any Muslim area (such as Somalia, or 1983 Beirut, similar to Israel withdrawing from southern Lebanon), we are labelled as cowards on the run, and that just emboldens terrorists (whether they are Hammas, Islamic Jihad, PLO or Al Qaida) to bolder acts of destruction and violence.

[/QB]
I almost missed this. How does this dovetail in with repeated Palestinian calls for interntaional peace-keepers? Israel rejects these calls, saying that its an internal issue wihich does not necessitate peacekeepers.

Also, the US pulled out of Somalia because the corpse of an army ranger was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu and this was broadcast to the US public. The US public lacks the stomach to see its troops killed in foreign theatres (understandably, in one sense). The US military was opposed to it, because it wasn't fighting, it was nation-building. And so the US pulled out. I don't think it was cowardice: it was more lack of committment.