WASHINGTON INSIGHT

PEACEKEEPING SHUFFLE: Here’s an idea that has military logic but may not go very far. . . . Sens. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) and Warren B. Rudman (R-N.H.) want the U.S. share of United Nations peacekeeping operations paid for out of the Defense Department budget instead of the State Department’s. Their argument: Peacekeeping is a military operation that saves money in the long run by preventing wars that could draw in U.S. military forces. Even more important, the bill’s backers agree, the change might make Congress more inclined to pay the increasing costs of peacekeeping. . . . But the Bush Administration opposes the idea as a raid on the Pentagon budget. Some officials at State also fear it would give the Pentagon too much influence over U.S. policy.