Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

26 February 2003

NATO

• AP reports two AWACS took off Wednesday from the NATO base in Geilenkirchen to help defend Turkey against a possible attack from Iraq. “The (aircraft) are the first of five or six that are expected to be deployed to patrol the skies of … Turkey,” adds the dispatch. A NATO spokesman said two AWACS had left the base for Turkey to help protect the country in the event of a U.S.-led war on neighboring Iraq, writes AFP. The spokesman would not say how many additional AWACS would be deployed, notes the dispatch, adding, however, that NATO officials said the number was expected to double in what Maj. Gen. Dora, commander of the AWACS fleet, described as a “purely defensive” deployment. AWACS aircraft were due to arrive under a NATO agreement in the Anatolian city of Konya later on Wednesday to patrol skies near the Iraqi border, reports Reuters. France 2 television, Feb. 25, announced that “the first batch” of AWACS planes would soon be leaving Germany for Turkey. Moscow’s Kommersant, Feb. 25, highlighted that “the AWACS formation’s commanding officer maintains that the mission is of ‘a purely defensive nature."
  
  
• Based on previous statements regarding Turkey’s defense by Berlin government officials, some German media speculate that new NATO demands may put Germany under pressure. “NATO has sent a list of military requirements for the protection of Turkey to the capitals of its member nations. As was learned from SHAPE headquarters, an informal requirements list, called a ‘statement of requirement,’ was sent out in the morning, a formal one was to follow in the evening. It was said that Turkey had included a list of urgent requirements, asking for special support to protect the country against biological and chemical agents. Prior to this, the military planners had already sent the strategic concept to the nations, that is the operational plan for the Alliance operation t protect Turkey, developed by … Gen. Jones. Representatives of the German Defense Ministry said the ‘requirements will be examined,’” writes Die Welt. Suggesting that NATO is hoping for the support of the Bundeswehr, above all, because its arsenal contains central elements of the Atlantic requirements, the article continues: “The list does not have any concrete weapons systems. However, the German Fuchs armored detection vehicles are considered to be the best available in the field of flexible laboratories worldwide. Germany possesses 114 of the much sought-after armored NBC reconnaissance vehicles….A few days ago, the spokesman for the Federal Government made clear that Germany’s contribution to the protection of Turkey would not go beyond the deployment of AWACS to Turkey and the provision of Patriot missiles. The current NATO request could put Berlin in an awkward spot and force Berlin once more to take a clear stand in the Alliance when Germany’s additional military contribution or non-contribution will decide on the security of Alliance partner Turkey. A related article in Berliner Zeitung writes that the German government is coming under further pressure because of the NATO wish list for assistance to protect Turkey. “The (NATO) list contains the demands for additional air defense systems of the Patriot type. The Alliance is also asking from national governments flexible laboratories to protect against attacks with nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The German Fuchs armored detection vehicles would meet these requirements. The German government has repeatedly declared it did not intend to furnish any additional support beyond the sending of AWACS crews and 46 Patriot missiles,” notes the daily.

IRAQ

• Reuters quotes a parliamentary source saying in Ankara that Turkey’s parliament will discuss on Thursday a motion allowing U.S. troops into the country to set up a northern front for a possible war against Iraq.

Ahead of a French parliamentary debate on Iraq, some media highlight that dissent has emerged in President Chirac’s camp.
Cautious dissent has started to bubble up within the pro-Chirac camp, mostly from conservatives worried that in so openly defying Washington, the president risks poisoning France’s relations with the United States for some time to come, writes Reuters. The dispatch stresses that ahead of the debate, a small but growing band of pro-U.S. “Atlanticists” on the French right pushed their calls for Chirac to climb back from confrontation with Washington by excluding any use of France’s veto.
Rightwing deputies are said to be increasingly worried about Chirac’s Iraq stance, wrote Liberation, Feb. 25, adding: In the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP), a number of deputies are becoming more and more openly concerned about the consequences of the French position on the Iraqi crisis. Officially, nobody is questioning the Elysee line. But out of caution, some have already drawn the yellow line that is not to be crossed: France’s use of its veto right in the UN Security Council against an intervention in Iraq.

ISAF

• France is raising doubts about expanding NATO’s role to take control of ISAF. The reservations could again embroil NATO in a debate over its future role just as the U.S. ponders involving NATO in the reconstruction and policing of Iraq after a possible war there, writes the Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, France is concerned that a NATO commitment to Afghanistan will place a burden on the French troops already stretched between the Balkans, the Ivory Coast and Kabul. But, the newspaper claims, “more fundamentally, France does not believe that NATO’s core mission of defending its members justifies running the security force in remote Afghanistan.” At several summits last year, NATO officials sought to re-orient to organization toward dealing with crises outside its traditional Euro-Atlantic theater of operations. While France has given a nod to this change, NATO officials say Paris remains concerned about extending the Alliance to cover distant military and peace support operations. The Afghanistan case is viewed by many in the Alliance as NATO’s first step outside its home area, stresses the article. It quotes unidentified French officials, saying, however, that France is contributing troops to ISAF and could agree to a greater NATO role in Afghanistan that would stop short of its taking full command of the operation. NATO, for instance, could help with coordinating troop contributions to ISAF.

OTHER NEWS

• According to Lisbon’s Publico, the United States is going to invest $19 millions in the Lajes air base to increase its aircraft refueling capacity. “At a time when NATO is debating the significance of its regional command in Portugal (CINSOUTHLANT), based in Oeiras, as well as Portugal’s strategic position, this $19 million investment is seen as a sign that the United States recognizes strategic value of the base, nick-named ‘their aircraft carrier in the Atlantic,’” says the report.