• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NOTE: Due to PIO’s participation in Exercise "Strong Resolve 2002," the SHAPE News Morning Update will not be published until March 19. Significant news items are incorporated in the SHAPE News Summary and Analysis.

ISAF-NATO

• Reuters quotes diplomats saying in Brussels Wednesday that Turkey has set conditions for taking over the leadership of ISAF from June with possible support from NATO’s military planning apparatus. According to the dispatch, one diplomat said Turkey was demanding western financial assistance, NATO logistical and planning support, a continued presence of key European allies, and no extension of the peacekeeping mission beyond Kabul as its conditions for taking over the ISAF command. The dispatch quotes NATO sources saying that while there had been no official discussion so far on a role for the Alliance in ISAF, Britain and some other NATO countries want to use the Alliance’s military staff at SHAPE to help with planning and logistics. Sources reportedly also indicated that the British Ministry of Defense had found organizing ISAF as an ad hoc "coalition of the willing" extremely time-consuming and onerous and felt NATO was better equipped to handle the organization task. "There are 300 colonels in military planning sitting around at SHAPE with the expertise and without a lot else to do," the dispatch quotes one NATO source saying. The source reportedly added that some U.S. officials also supported giving NATO a role in planning the Afghan peacekeeping mission to show that the Alliance remained "relevant" despite being excluded from the U.S.-led war on terrorism. However, there was no united U.S. government position on the issue.

 BALKANS

• Reuters quotes an ICTY spokeswoman saying Thursday that Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte will visit the White House next week to rally support for the arrest of former Bosnian Serb leaders Karadzic and Mladic. According to the dispatch, the spokeswoman said del Ponte was set to meet British Foreign Secretary Straw in London later in the day before traveling to Washington to meet Secretary of State Powell next week. "To accomplish her mandate, she needs the cooperation of states. We need cooperation for investigations, for arrests … the cooperation of the Yugoslav state," the spokesman reportedly said.

• International media highlight that research presented by U.S. scientists at Milosevic’s trial refute his allegation that NATO bombings were responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Kosovo in 1999 and the mass exodus of its people. The BBC World noted that a detailed statistical analysis by the American Association for the advancement of Science, led by Dr. Patrick Ball, showed that Yugoslav forces loyal to Milosevic were the most likely culprits behind an "organized campaign" of killings and expulsions. The program quoted the study saying that in the vast majority of cases, the killings did not coincide with NATO air strikes or KLA action. Some of the highest levels of killings and refugee flows occurred before NATO air strikes and KLA offensives—not after. The program added that the research team collected their information from registries at border posts, from Albanian government records, and from data collected by the UNHCR. The study looked at 15,000 interviews and exhumation records. "The findings of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that action by Yugoslav forces was the cause of the killings and the refugee flow," the program quoted the researchers’ report saying. The reports’ findings are echoed by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and AP.

• According to Reuters, the European Commission hailed an agreement signed in Belgrade Thursday to reshape the Yugoslav federation as a major advance to stabilize the Balkans. "This is good news for Europe and the future of the western Balkans on the road to the (EU)," a commission spokesman reportedly told a news conference. He added that the agreement, which EU foreign policy chief Solana helped broker, was "a huge step forward in ensuring stability in the whole region." AP reports that Serbia and Montenegro signed a historic accord Thursday to radically restructure Yugoslavia, giving the country a new name and its republics greater autonomy to prevent the country’s final breakup. The dispatch quotes Yugoslav President Kostunica saying the new country, consisting of two semi-independent states, will be renamed Serbia and Montenegro. It adds that for the time being, both republics will share a defense and foreign policy, but will maintain separate economies, currencies and customs services.

• AP quotes a government spokesman announcing Wednesday that the German Cabinet had approved a three-month extension to the peacekeeping mission of German troops in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. According to the dispatch, the spokesman said the decision still needs parliamentary approval and stressed that "there is no change to the mandate."

• According to AFP, President Chirac’s spokeswoman said in Paris Wednesday that at an EU summit in Barcelona Friday and Saturday, France will support proposals for the EU to take command of the NATO peace mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. "It would give the European Union more credibility," the spokeswoman reportedly said, noting, however, that "some or our partners still have to be convinced, with the help of the Spanish (EU) presidency." Le Monde remarks meanwhile that some ambiguity continues to surround the question of a possible takeover of the NATO-led mission by the EU. The French daily not only expresses doubt as to whether NATO is really interested in accepting a reduction of its presence in the Balkans, but also questions the Europeans’ ability to perform the mission autonomously.

NATO-EU SUMMIT

• The announcement that a NATO AWACS will patrol the skies over Barcelona during the forthcoming EU summit is noted by international media. NATO Wednesday accepted to send an AWACS surveillance plane to guarantee the protection of the European summit, writes La Libre Belgique, while the International Herald Tribune says: "AWACS to patrol skies." AP, March 13, quoted Alliance officials saying Wednesday that NATO had agreed to send one of its AWACS to patrol the skies over the EU summit in Barcelona. The dispatch noted that the officials stressed the deployment was a precautionary measure and no direct threat had been made to the EU meeting. The officials were further quoted saying that one of NATO’s AWACS had already been used to cover the EU summit last December in Brussels and that planes would likely be used in other EU meetings this year. AFP quoted the NATO officials saying the AWACS was requested by Spain, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, and approved by NATO ambassadors. Madrid’s EFE highlighted that the move was not the result of a direct threat.

 FINAL ITEM