Military

COOPERATIVE BEST EFFORT 2002

• The Cooperative Best Effort 2002 exercise, which opened in Georgia Monday under the aegis of PFP, is prompting the media to highlight the close ties between the former Soviet republic and NATO. The exercise underlines Georgia’s efforts to bring itself closer to the Alliance, stresses AP. Tbilisi’s Georgian Radio 1, June 17, carried President Shevardnadze saying in his weekly address that the holding of Cooperative Best Effort 2002 in his country reflects the high level of cooperation with NATO. "I consider (the exercise) very important to increase the professionalism and battle readiness of the special-purpose units of the Georgian armed forces, especially because U.S. instructors, along with their Georgian colleagues, will be training special antiterrorist units at the Vaziani base. This new function of the Vaziani base and its strategic importance are noteworthy. In general, NATO has become a major guarantor of the modern global security and everyone is admitting this today…. We regard NATO as a strong and trusted partner, which is helping us and will continue helping us in ensuring regional stability," said Shevardnadze. Referring to the establishment of the new Russia-NATO Council, he added. "After what happened in Rome, it is immaterial to argue about the right of this or that country to strive for close cooperation with NATO, including joining the Alliance. Though, this may not be a short-term prospect or an immediate task for Georgia." A related AFP dispatch observes that 12 days of joint Georgia-NATO exercises began on Monday with President Shevardnadze again voicing his country’s desire to join NATO. "Observers see the holding of the exercise in Georgia for the second time in two years as a demonstration of NATO political support for Tbilisi," said Moscow’s NTV television. Noting, however, that officials there have long ago set up a goal of making the peacekeeping operations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia international, the network claimed that the exercise is causing concern among local authorities in the two areas that Tbilisi is getting ready to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity by force.

ESDP

• Reuters writes that in a small breakthrough for its stuttering common defense policy, the EU agreed Monday on how to finance future peacekeeping operations, ending months of wrangling. Under the accord, spending on military operations will reportedly be split between common costs, to be paid for collectively out of the EU budget, and individual costs to be met by participating nations. According to the dispatch, common costs include transport within an area of operations, administration, locally hired personnel, communications, barracks and lodging, infrastructure, public information and representation and hospitality. Individual costs including salaries, equipment, transport to the theater of operations and other incidental expenses will be met on a "costs lie where they fall" basis. In what it sees as a fudge that may return to haunt the EU each time it seeks to deploy forces, the dispatch notes that ministers agreed "the Council will decide on a case-by-case basis whether transportation of the forces, barracks and lodging for the forces will be funded in common." One diplomat called it "a recipe for haggling and hair-splitting each time we want to move a single soldier," adds the dispatch.

UNITED STATES-PREEMPTIVE STRIKES

• The Bush administration has sought to temper international unease at its proposed "strike first" doctrine, saying that preemptive action against states with weapons of mass destruction does not necessarily mean using force, writes The Times. President Bush’s National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, said the U.S. would examine all options before making its move against regimes or terrorists who threaten American interests. She tried to ease concerns, emphasizing that military force was only one option that the United States would use. She cited the Cuban missile crisis as an example of Washington successfully taking preemptive action which fell well short of military strikes, adds the newspaper.

AFGHANISTAN

• According to the Financial Times, coalition soldiers searching for the remnants of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan have been warned that bounties of up to $50,000 for their capture or death have been placed on their heads. Intelligence officers assisting the small patrols of marines searching areas around the Afghan border with Pakistan have taken possession of notes outlined the bounty officer, says the dispatch. It adds that the notes, given to soldiers by friendly villagers, offered a bounty of $50,000 for live coalition soldiers and $25,000 for dead ones. The dispatch notes that similar stories about the bounties circulated late last year when Al Qaeda and the Taliban were more active, but the threat was thought to have died away with their retreat.

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