US troops unlikely to join int'l force in Lebanon

President George W. Bush's Chief of Staff Josh Bolten said Sunday that international peacekeepers might be needed in Lebanon to help end the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah, but that US troop involvement was unlikely. "We haven't discussed the possibility of US boots on the ground in Lebanon. We want to be open-minded on what's doable here," Bolten said. "The main point being to see that Hizbullah does not return to its armed, operational capacity threatening Israel and that the institutions of Lebanon cover the whole the country."