Plans for sending an international force to Lebanon face many hurdles, including finding troops from military powers that are already tied down in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, analysts say.
Apart from first trying to clinch a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon, analysts say, the United Nations Security Council will face daunting questions over the size, mandate and make-up of a stabilization force in the area.
"Unfortunately at this time it just doesn't look realistic," leading British defense analyst Charles Heyman told AFP.
The Group of Eight (G8) summit in Saint Petersburg floated proposals Monday for a more robust force than the military mission known as UNIFIL that has monitored the volatile Lebanese-Israeli border for more than two decades.
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi talked of 8,000 troops, quadruple the current UN mission, but the United States appeared to back off, saying that all the G8 leaders had done was to ask the UN to consider a force.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is due soon to hear a report from UN officials returning from the Middle East on exploring ways to guarantee security until the Lebanese army is equipped to do the task.
Under a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2004, the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia is required to disarm and make way for the Lebanese government to extend its authority to the border with Israel.
However, the resolution has never been enforced.
With backing from influential neighbor Syria, Hezbollah bolstered its presence in south Lebanon before triggering a massive Israeli retaliation when it kidnapped two Israeli soliders and killed eight on July 12.
One of the problems in trying to set up a force is finding troops from countries which could do the job.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for a robust force while attending the G8 meeting, but has appeared to rule out sending British troops who are stretched in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency, said Thursday that the 25-member bloc would be ready to contribute to such a force following a truce, but gave no specifics.
France and Germany are already busy in Afghanistan, Heyman said.
"They are not going to be too keen to do it. They've got people there, they've got people ready to go. They've got people to come back," Heyman said.
"And the Americans couldn't even find probably half a dozen soldiers for it," said Heyman, editor of both "Armed Forces of the United Kingdom" and "Armed Forces of the European Union."
Christopher Langton, the head of defense analysis at the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies, said not only would it be difficult to find competent troops but also to get agreement on the force make-up.
Non-European countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and India may be able to contribute troops, Langton said. But would Israel or Lebanon agree to their presence, Langton asked.
"The wrangling over what countries' troops are acceptable to both sides cannot be underestimated in terms of how difficult that is to get agreement on," he said.
Led by a French general, UNIFIL currently comprises soldiers from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy and Poland.
Mustafa Alani, security director at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center suggested that the Lebanese army, though weak, could lend legitimacy to any international force.
However, Langton said Israeli does not trust the Lebanese army which is divided on sectarian lines, and has commanders from the Shia Muslim population which support Hezbollah.
For Heyman, a retired British army major, there is also a question of whether the troops will be granted rules of engagement and enough fire power to stand up to both Hezbollah and Israel.
"Both sides have to be frightened of them," he said.
Heyman said that Israeli air force and artillery fire was responsible for most of the casualties endured by the UNIFIL monitoring force over the last two decades.
The commander should be able to issue the following warning to the Israelis: "If you attack our soldiers, you will be shot out of the sky."
The mandate of the force begs the question of whether it would be equipped to tackle the problem.
Analysts said UN troops have carried out observer missions well, but have fallen short when it comes to making and enforcing peace.
The US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) proved its worth in pacifying Bosnia, but the headquarters of the rapid reaction force required to do the job in Lebanon is currently in Afghanistan, Heyman said.
"It would take many months to put in the right sort of headquarters to run this operation," Heyman said.
However, he suggested that the headquarters of Eurocorp, which has run operations in Kosovo, could be up to the task.
