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NOTE: Due to PIO’s participation in Exercise "Strong Resolve 2002," the SHAPE News Morning Update will not be published until March 16. Significant news items are incorporated in the SHAPE News Summary and Analysis.

BALKANS

• According to AP, a Russian military transport plane left for Kosovo Wednesday to take a group of Russian peacekeepers home as part of an effort to downsize the contingent. The dispatch quotes the Interfax news agency saying the Russian military plans to withdraw about 1,300 troops and a significant number of weapons in two stages, the second coming in the fall. The dispatch recalls that earlier reports have put the number of Russian peacekeepers serving with KFOR at 2,000. It adds that a Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the withdrawal.

• Under the title "EU and NATO at loggerheads over Macedonian (sic) operations," the Financial Times claims that NATO and the EU are becoming embroiled in a political battle over which organization should in future run military operations in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The newspaper explains that the dispute centers on a big push by EU foreign policy chief Solana and Spain, the holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, to take on a military role as soon as possible as part of ESDP. Stressing that at issue for the Europeans is their credibility in being able to launch or run small operations in the Balkans, such as Amber Fox, the newspaper quotes an EU diplomat saying: "We see this as a credibility test. It is time to stop the talking and take some action. A military role would complement our economic and political strategy in the Balkans that is aimed at closer integration with the EU. It might improve our capabilities as well." The newspaper also quotes Istvan Gyarmati, security expert at the New York-based East-West Institute, saying: "It makes sense the EU should take over Macedonia (sic)…. Frankly, the Europeans are going to replace the U.S. in the Balkans anyway. They are quite capable of taking on Amber Fox." Claiming that "NATO believes the stakes involved in the proposed takeover of Amber Fox," the article adds: "Alliance diplomats said the EU was ill-prepared for such an operation, partly because it had limited capabilities…. The EU has not even sorted out access to NATO assets and planning for operations conducted by the Europeans independently of NATO." An unidentified NATO diplomat is quoted saying: "Everything is integrated…. Amber Fox gets its supplies from KFOR Rear. What will happen if the EU takes over. Will it have separate supply lines? Will it lead to duplication? That would be crazy." The article adds, however, that EU diplomats believe these reservations are attempts by NATO to preserve its military monopoly in the Balkans.

• According to AFP, France Wednesday reaffirmed its rejection of claims that a French officer scuppered last week’s attempt by SFOR to arrest former Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic. "The French authorities confirm that the allegations aimed at SFOR soldiers, in particular French soldiers, concerning the recent attempts to arrest Karadzic are totally without foundation," the dispatch quoted a Foreign Ministry statement saying.

NATO

• AP reports NATO Secretary General Robertson Wednesday unveiled a painting of the World Trade Center in flames donated to NATO by a British artist to commemorate the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The painting by Ashley Jackson will hang outside the room where NATO ambassadors met on the evening of the attacks to begin consultations that led eventually to the first-ever invoking of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, adds the dispatch. It quotes Lord Robertson saying the painting would serve as a "solemn commitment" to remembrance and adding: "All those who would seek to attack the freedoms and values we cherish will find us blocking in their way."

AFGHANISTAN

• According to AP, western diplomats said Tuesday that to keep Afghan warlords from taking over significant territory and disrupting peace efforts, the United States and key allies are considering doubling the 4,500-strong ISAF in Kabul and deploying the new troops to a few big cities. The diplomats reportedly said that talks had intensified in recent days. They stressed that no decision is expected for several weeks, but pointed to the deployment of small numbers of foreign peacekeepers to Mazar-e-Sharif, Kunduz, Jalalabad and possibly Kandahar and Herat. The aim would be to choose cities that are crucial to maintaining Afghanistan as a single political entity, the diplomats said. According to the dispatch, the diplomats added that the United States would likely remain in overall command of any expanded force, with different countries possibly taking charge of the international contingents in the various cities.

Media continue to observe that the current U.S. ground operation in Afghanistan marks an unprecedented level of unity in the allied coalition.

Stressing that the latest fighting suggests a recalibrating of the original go-it-alone strategy, the Christian Science Monitor quotes Bernhardt May, deputy director of the German Foreign Policy Society in Berlin, saying: "The Americans have learned that it is better not just to talk about a coalition, but to show that there is a coalition on the ground. We have to work on the coalition politically." The newspaper observes that coalition fighters now make up more than 10 percent of a ground force the Pentagon says numbers about 2,000. It adds that the mostly European soldiers include special operations units with specific training in winter mountain fighting.

While French media report prominently that French aircraft attacked Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan Tuesday and Monday, the Financial Times comments that France is eager to prove its military and political credentials in the battle against Al Qaeda after several weeks of transatlantic tension between Paris and Washington over foreign policy.

 FINAL ITEM