Military

DATE=12/18/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-284421

TITLE=NATO / DEFENSE MINISTERS (L-UPDATE)

BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON

DATELINE=BRUSSELS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// UPDATES CR 2-284401 NATO PLEDGE, RUMSFELD WARNING///

INTRO: NATO has pledged to extend its reach beyond Europe and its traditional missions of conventional defense and peacekeeping to join the war on terrorism. V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison reports the decision came after U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned the allies that their cities could be hit by terrorist strikes like those that killed more than three thousand people on September 11th.

TEXT: Mr. Rumsfeld's message to the allies was stark but clear. Brace yourself, he said, for ingenious and deadly attacks from terrorists prepared to use everything from cruise missiles to nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

The U-S defense chief's remarks were made behind closed doors, but reporters were given copies of his speech. Later, Mr. Rumsfeld told a news conference what he had told his 18 NATO colleagues.

/// RUMSFELD ACT ///

I expressed our concern with the overlap between the listed states that sponsor terrorism and terrorist networks, given the fact that a large number of the so-called terrorist states have active chemical, biological and/or nuclear programs. The nexus between states with weapons of mass destruction and terrorist networks raises the danger that September 11th could be a preview of what could come if the enemies of freedom gain ability to strike our nations with weapons of increasingly greater power.

/// END ACT ///

NATO Secretary General George Robertson called on the ministers to face up to the cost of revamping the alliance, which was created more than 50 years ago to stave off Soviet expansionism, to meet the new threat of terrorism. Mr. Robertson says the ministers understood his message.

/// ROBERTSON ACT ///

We recognize that the fight is far from over, and today we restated our resolve for zero tolerance of terrorism. This is a changed world with a premium on political and military agility, and NATO defense ministers understand this and are responding accordingly.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Robertson also says the allies are prepared to abandon their reluctance to confine NATO's operations to Europe.

/// 2nd ROBERTSON ACT ///

In reviewing our defense plans, we agreed to increase the proportion of forces that can be deployed and sustained in operations far beyond alliance territory.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Rumsfeld, too, says it is essential that, if the allies are to deal forthrightly with global terrorism, they will have to take the battle to the terrorists, wherever they may be.

///2nd RUMSFELD ACT ///

The only way to deal with a terrorist network that is global is to go after it where it is.

///END ACT ///

Mr. Rumsfeld says the only alternative to seeking out and destroying the terrorists is to sit back and take the blows they strike. And that, he says, is foolhardy and dangerous and self-defeating. (Signed)

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