To Die For

Mideast duty for U.S. troops may include Israel.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, renewed his longstanding call for NATO and U.S. troops to take part in an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

The death in November of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has set the stage for renewed movement in the creation of a Palestinian state. And Warner said a NATO force with strong U.S. participation would be viewed as evenhanded in the volatile region because many of NATO’s European allies have strong ties to Palestinian Arabs while the United States is viewed as a strong backer of Israel.

What's the difference between strong ties and strong backer? About 3 billion per year in assistance plus state of the art weaponry.