Posted on 01/31/2011 8:07:54 AM PST by EBH
Israeli officials said Monday that they have agreed to let Egypt move several hundred troops into the Sinai peninsula for the first time since the countries reached peace three decades ago.
With street protests threatening the Egyptian regime, the officials say that Israel allowed the Egyptian army to move two battalions — about 800 soldiers — into Sinai on Sunday. The officials said the troops were based in the Sharm el-Sheikh area on Sinai's southern tip, far from Israel.
Under the 1979 peace treaty, Israel returned the captured Sinai to Egypt. In return, Egypt agreed to leave the area, which borders southern Israel, demilitarized. The arid peninsula lies between Egypt's mainland and Israel, and Israel was worried about an Egyptian invasion then.
Now, as the unrest in Egypt has spread, Israeli officials have grown increasingly concerned about the stability of their southern neighbor. They are especially worried that Palestinian militants could take advantage of the unrest to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border.
The Israeli officials spoke Monday about the troop movements on condition of anonymity because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned the government from discussing the situation in Egypt.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Some reports over the weekend have Mubarak stationed in Sharm el-Sheikh.
hmmmmmmmmm
Interesting. Egypt has plenty of space for relocating/hiding military units so why the Sinai?
Since Israel so publicly and readily gave it’s approval for this I can only guess that Egypt has a huge problem on its hands with terrorist elements crossing the Sinai heading to Egypt. Perhaps Egypt sent a couple units into the Sinai for interdiction efforts.
My only question is whether we still have MFO duties in the Sinai ...
So, when the radicals take over they’ll already have their troops in the attack position. Is Israel being forced to do this? Will Israel lay down their arms and allow themselves to become captives? If they do it will shake my faith to the core.
Not sure what’s going on in the Sinai, but from what I’ve heard the MFO is still operational. I’m not positive, but I’ve been told that elements of the Illinois and Oklahoma NG are stationed at South Camp right now. There’s a MAGTF in the area, but the MFO mission is limited to small arms smaller than crew served 7.62mm and no combat vehicles at all.
My info comes from the Blackfive site, which is usually pretty solid when it comes to this kind of thing. http://www.blackfive.net/main/2011/01/the-south-camp-perimeter.html#more
the treaty for the MFO mission says that the units that go there are light infantry; and they can't bring anything larger than a crew served 7.62 machine gun. No Ma Deuce, no AT-4, No TOW Missiles; just M-4s, M-9s, SAWs and 240B's. You go with what you can carry and take exactly zero combat vehicles. The ROE is even more ridiculous, with all of the accompanying "receive permission from higher to insert a magazine, shout a warning, fire a warning shot etc.) which definitely makes things harder when it comes to defending yourself.
Yeah, this makes me all kinds of nervous considering that if things go south, they’re going to go south in a big way and probably before that MAGTF could get permission to respond.
I really don’t like the way this is shaping up.
WTF?!?!?!
????
You tell me...
Quiet troop placement...
Have to keep an eye on what ships are in the area.
I can’t imagine Israel granting permission for more armored units into the Sinai. And if they just come, well, then it will be time to get really worried.
That would actually make sense at this point. Well, as far as why Egyptian units would go there to begin with. With the MFO and Egyptian units both there it would be a secure location.
On the other hand it could also be a huge beacon screaming out "HE'S HERE!!"
Don’t really know the area well, but it’s supposedly isolated with few routes in and out. Easier to limit access. I read and posted a story this weekend that stated he was entrenched in a golf hotel at the resort. I bet Obama is jealous.
So the real question is, with the MFO in the area, what are the chances of the Egyptian army turning against Mubarak and the fighting spilling over into the MFO’s area?
We know that the Muslim Brotherhood has already warned Israel to get ready for another war, having American troops that close to Mubarak doesn’t make me all warm and fuzzy, you know?
Looking at Google maps it does look easy to defend from anything heavier than an infantry unit.
But it’s the size of the force that stumps me. Two battalions is too small to be a force to be reckoned with but is about the right size for a decent Praetorian Guard.
I would just have a hard time believing Mubarak would leave the country for good for some place close by.
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