Military

NATO

¨         Corriere della Sera, Oct. 1, carried a question-and-answer interview with NATO Secretary General Robertson in which, among other things, he discussed Iraq, the terrorist threat and NATO's future.   Regarding Iraq, Lord Robertson stressed that NATO is not in the frontline on this issue because it is an issue for the UN. He noted, however that NATO was kept informed on the situation and that only last week, the deputy director of the CIA provided an intelligence briefing to NATO officials.   Reacting to the interviewer's suggestion that some people might be wondering whether NATO is ignoring the Iraqi question and the globalization of missile technology, Lord Robertson stressed:  "We are not avoiding the question at all.  The entire issue of weapons of mass destruction and of their proliferation is going to lie at the heart of the upcoming summit in Prague.  We have to have the ability, after Sept. 11, to stop those who intend to use these non-conventional threats.  We are going to have to prove capable of stopping what they can do, and even on occasion of destroying what they have set up if deterrence fails." Regarding the imbalance between the military capabilities of the United States and those of the European NATO allies, Lord Robertson stressed that unless that issue was addressed, "there is going to be a total imbalance between the United States and its allies, and in the event of a crisis Europe will not even be consulted."  Lord Robertson also expressed his conviction that the perception that the United States is a hegemonic power acting unilaterally is contradicted by the facts.  Citing,  as an example, the way the U.S. administration reacted to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he noted that Washington first engaged in diplomatic action with the Taliban and only when that action failed did it begin to build up a coalition and military action began.  This, he observed, clashes with the caricature of unilateralism that is being spread around.  Insisting that "there is no hegemony within NATO," Lord Robertson further said that NATO's role is that of a collective security organization that looks to the interests of the Alliance's members.  It is also a political security alliance that embraces also former communist countries, that is building up an ethos based on cooperation and on trust.  Discussing the military capabilities of European countries, Lord Robertson thought that Europe has to recognize that military threats are changing.  Too many countries are still equipped to fight a war against the Soviet Union and not enough are ready to take on the new challenges.  We have to be ready to go where the crisis is before that crisis comes to us, he stressed, recalling one of his slogans:  "Forces have to be more flexible, mobile, and rapidly assembled in order to go further and to stay there longer."  Lord Robertson also considered that the novelty in a U.S. proposal for a NATO Rapid Response Force was "the ultra-readiness factor." That, he said,  demands training, troops available for very rapid action, and a wide range of capabilities. 

¨         The German government will undertake a full defense spending review once formally reappointed this month, claims the Financial Times.  The newspaper notes that Washignton has sharply criticized several European partners, notably Germany, for not boosting defense spending.  It stresses, however, that rather than upping expenditure, in their first round of talks this week on a new government program to 2006, Chancellor Schroeder's Social Democrats and their Green junior partners agreed on the need to save about 20 billion euros in 2003 and 15 billion euros in 2004.  A number of big defense projects will reportedly be subjected to particularly close scrutiny.  In another development, Der Spiegel, Sept. 30,  asserted that in a confidential report on the crash of a Bundeswehr Tornado over the Nevada desert last year, Brig. Gen. Klaus-Peter Stieglitz, who at that time was in charge of flight safety in the German Air Force, is accusing the Bundeswehr of serious failures.  According to the article, he charged that the pilot was apparently insufficiently trained for the extremely demanding NATO exercise.  According to Gen. Stieglitz, said the article, the unit participating in the exercise was selected without "determining the prerequisites well ahead of time through a command order."  The chain of command had been "turned upside down."  Command supervision also failed, because no one noticed that the pilot was not able to participate "continuously in all theoretical and flight preparations."  Pondering whether "Tornado pilots are regularly sent out to slaughter in the Bundeswehr," the article stressed:  The organization of Jet Fighters Crews (VBSK), in which around 800 Air Force officers have joined together, has long criticized the fact that German pilots have increasingly fewer training flights.  As a lesson from the deadly crash, Gen. Stieglitz is now demanding what the jet pilots have been demanding for a long time:  that the Air Force leadership should urgently concern itself with "the issuing of orders, the density of missions, command supervision, crew coordination and systems knowledge."  Low-altitude training must be overhauled in its totality, the general reportedly further recommended.

¨         According to The Independent, the British Defense Ministry Tuesday revealed details of a £10 order for military hardware which will form the backbone of Britain's air and sea forces for the next 50 years.  A group of 150 jump jets, replacing the Harrier aircraft, will reportedly operate in tandem with two of the largest aircraft ever built in Europe.  The new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will take to the skies by 2012.  Built by Lockheed Martin, they will operate from two new aircraft carriers. The article adds that the vessels, which are due to be in service by 2015, can be adapted for use by the conventional version of the Joint Strike Fighter and "unmanned combat aerial vehicles." French daily Liberation comments that by choosing a vertical take-off airplane to equip its two aircraft carriers, Britain is forcing France to go it alone for the construction of another aircraft carrier.  The idea of a Franco-British aircraft carrier seems definitely buried, stresses the newspaper, adding, however, that the French navy is saying this does not put into question the cooperation between Britain and France. 

BALKANS

¨         Reuters reports President Trajkovski's special representative said in Brussels Wednesday that NATO's Amber Fox peacekeeping mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should be replaced in January by a mostly civilian task force for "regional integration."  According to the dispatch, the official said his country now needs the international community's help more than its soldiers. "We don't want to cease to exist," he reportedly said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference on NATO enlargement, adding, however:  "But we will not need Amber Fox in the mandate as it is now."   He added that the mandate of a new task force could include support for military reform across the Balkan region, anti-terrorism training, intelligence sharing and border monitoring.

¨         According to AFP, UNMIK head Michael Steiner Tuesday unveiled a seven-point plan to improve conditions in the ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica.  The plan, the contents of which were allegedly made available to AFP, reportedly involves a combination of security and economic measures aimed at creating stability. It rules out any incursions from the southern, ethnic Albanian-populated sector into the northern district where most local Serbs live.  Under the plan, Mitrovica will also require regular policing by ethnic Serb members of the local Kosovo Police Force (KPS).  The plan also calls for a co-governance, decentralization and a quick economic boost with a donors' conference to encourage investment in Mitrovica, once known as an industrial center.  The dispatch adds, however, that in a news conference Steiner stressed  that the plan's success relies on participation by Serbs in local elections on Oct. 26, with a four-year mandate at stake.  It remarks that Kosovo Serb leaders have yet to announce whether they will take part in the elections.

OTHER NEWS

¨         Reuters quotes a U.S. Navy spokeswoman saying in Washington Tuesday that the U.S. Navy is cooperating with a Spanish-led investigation into the beaching of more than a dozen whales off the Canary Islands last week during military exercises there.  According to the dispatch, the spokeswoman said Spain told the United States about the mass stranding, which some media reports suggest may have been caused by the use of active sonar during the naval exercises.  Noting that the United States sent its Manhan destroyer to participate in the maneuvers, the dispatch further quotes the spokeswoman saying:  "U.S. officials are determining the extent of the Mahan's participation and assisting the Spanish navy as best we can."  She reportedly noted that the stranding occurred when 12 ships were in the vicinity.  She also acknowledged that nearly any military ship carried sonar equipment, but said the U.S. Navy was not certain which, if any sonars, were in operation at the time of the stranding. She indicated, however, that the U.S. Navy was not using its powerful new low-frequency active sonar system, which scientists say could injure whales and other marine mammals.