"The U.S. military has been determining manpower and equipment needs to
protect these borders from infiltration and terrorism," an Egyptian source
said.
In May 2008, a U.S. military team conducted two examinations of the
Sinai border. On May 21, officers, headed by the U.S. Air Force attache in
the
U.S. embassy in Cairo, toured Egypt's borders and inspected the Rafah
terminal and Israel's Keren Shalom facility.
The U.S. delegation was said to have examined the reconstructed Egyptian
border fence along the Gaza Strip. The sources said the delegation did not
interview local Egyptian commanders.
Earlier in May, the same delegation visited the Gaza and Israeli
borders. At the same time, the U.S. Army was said to have begun training
Egyptian officers to stop weapons smuggling and infiltration into Israel and
the Gaza Strip.
In early 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drafted a geological
assessment of Palestinian smuggling networks. The Bush administration
has approved $23 million for Egypt to procure advanced detection equipment
and robots to block smuggling.
"So far, the equipment has not been delivered," David Makovsky, senior
fellow at the Washington Institute, told the House Foreign Relations
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia on May 21. "Failure to
expedite delivery sends an unfortunate signal that the United States is not
serious about this issue."