Military

GERMANY-DEFENSE

¨         According to AFP, the German daily Bild reported Wednesday that Germany plans to cut its defense budget for 2003.  Bild reportedly cited government sources saying the cash-strapped German government planned to trim 140 million euros from the planned 24.4 billion euro budget for next year as part of Finance Minister Eichel's austerity program.  The dispatch notes that based on planned expenses for 2003, this will still leave Defense Minister Struck with a budget deficit of 570 million euros, up from the 430 million euros originally forecast.  The dispatch adds that a Defense Ministry spokeswoman called the report "speculation" and noted that the final budgetary allocations would not be hashed out until a series of meetings this week.  It observes that the news comes amid continued calls from the U.S. government and NATO Secretary General Robertson in the run-up to the Prague summit for European countries, and Germany in particular, to pull more of their weight in the Alliance. 

NATO

¨         A battalion of marines will be established in the Polish armed forces. Several hundred Polish Marines, prepared to operate independently, even far from home, will probably be based in Lebork, reported Warsaw's Rzeczpospolita, Nov. 5.  According to the newspaper, Defense Minister Szmajdzinski confirmed that the establishment of the elite unit would begin next year.

ANTI-TERRORISM

¨         Jane's Defense Weekly writes that as senior defense officials in Washington contemplate how to better align U.S. forces to fight the global war on terrorism, they are increasingly looking to Special Operations Forces (SOF) as the answer.  According to the article, Department of Defense leaders are now forming a plan to give U.S.  Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) leaders the flexibility to support the Bush administration's new pre-emptive strategy. This reportedly includes countering production and storage sites of weapons of mass destruction, increased interdiction of contraband and illegal finances, penetrating terrorist cells and conducting covert raids aimed at both terrorists and their supporters. The article claims that these new missions are expected to occur around the world, from training local counter-terrorism forces in Yemen, the Philippines and Georgia, to covert raids on suspected terrorist hideouts. 

IRAQ

¨         According to the BBC World Service, U.S. officials are signaling that a deal has been reached with France to break an impasse on Iraq as the U.S. prepares to table a new UN resolution.  The broadcast added that following conversations with Secretary of State Powell, the Republican Chairman of the Foreign Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives, Tom Colby, said an agreement had been reached.  "The resolution is not everything we had wanted. But it gives us what we believe is the necessary authority to go ahead and work to enforce previous UN resolutions,"   Colby reportedly indicated.

UNITED STATES-POLITICS

¨         Electronic media report that Republicans have scored a dramatic victory in mid-term elections to the U.S. Congress, winning control of the Senate and increasing their majority in the House of Representatives.  The BBC World Service observed that although these elections usually hinge on domestic issues, this time the country was engaged in the war on terror and faced the prospect of war with Iraq.  It described the Republican victory as "a confidence vote" for Bush's policy.