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SHAPE News Summary Analysis
1
April 2003
NATO-GEN.
JONES
- Report:
Gen. Jones sees “metamorphosis” as Alliance
looks for wider role
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OPERATION
CONCORDIA
- EU
takeover of peacekeeping in the Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia viewed
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TRANSATLANTIC
RELATIONS
- Secretary
of State Powell to meet NATO, EU foreign ministers Thursday
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IRAQ
- U.S.
ends training of Iraqi dissidents in Hungary
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NATO-GEN. JONES
- “NATO’s
new military commander in Europe outlined his vision Tuesday
of an Alliance transformed to tackle 21st-century threats
of terrorism and instability, even as its members remain bitterly
divided over the war in Iraq,” writes AP. The
dispatch reports that talking to reporters at SHAPE,
Gen. Jones said the first elements of NATO’s rapid reaction
force should be operational this year. It would eventually
be able to deploy thousands of troops to trouble spots around
the world if the Alliance’s political leaders can agree
on it. “We are seeing a military metamorphosis
of the Alliance,” the dispatch quotes Gen. Jones saying
and adding: “if the nations wish to have a force
that has an out-of-area capability, beyond a regional capability,
we could build that.” The dispatch observes
that Gen. Jones’ comments came as NATO diplomats in
Brussels embark on tentative discussions on a possible Alliance
role in peacekeeping in Afghanistan, or even post-war Iraq.
It adds that Gen. Jones stressed he had received no orders
to prepare for NATO operations in either Afghanistan or Iraq,
but he highlighted the debate within the Alliance over a possible
role, well beyond its traditional Euro-Atlantic theater. According
to the dispatch, Gen. Jones outlined plans for the proposed
NATO reaction force of 20,000-strong rapidly deployable, air,
land and sea units to be the spearhead of a leaner, more agile
Alliance. Addressing budget concerns of European members,
Gen. Jones reportedly said the more mobile, lighter forces
needed by NATO could be constructed without major new outlay.
“So much of the money that we need can be done through
some in-depth reforms. My goal is to build the NATO reaction
force from existing capacities without asking for more money,”
he added. Noting that Gen. Jones also serves as commander
of U.S. forces in Europe, the dispatch adds that he restated
plans to restructure the American deployment away from the
Cold War focus on major concentrations in Germany, to smaller,
more flexible bases in new NATO members to the East. The dispatch
stresses, however, that he repeated that such plans were based
on the needs of military modernization, rather than U.S. displeasure
at Germany’s opposition to the war in Iraq. The article
further reports that Gen. Jones welcomed EU efforts
to build up military capabilities, as reflected in the EU
launching of its first military operation Monday by replacing
NATO peacekeeping in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
But, adds the dispatch, Gen. Jones cautioned European
nations against initiatives that seek to duplicate or rival
NATO structures. “It would be very expensive and somewhat
redundant to make two capabilities,” the dispatch
quotes Gen. Jones saying.
OPERATION CONCORDIA
Media continue
to examine the implications of the EU’s takeover of the
peacekeeping mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
According
to Frankfurter Rundschau, Operation Concordia “is a small
mission, but of great historical significance.” With this,
stresses the daily, “what has up to now been a purely civilian
EU is advancing irreversibly into military territory…. This
could be the beginning of a journey that would make the EU a power
to be reckoned with.”
Calling the mission “the first military operation in the
history of the EU,” Die Welt suggests that “despite
the absence of a common foreign and security policy, the EU’s
military debut could serve as the vehicle for that vague idea
of a European defense union.” The article insists, however,
that a European defense without Britain and without the United
States “would be neither feasible nor desirable at present.”
The fledging European force began its first military operation
Monday, taking over peacekeeping in the Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia as a trial run for future missions in Bosnia, Africa
and the Caucasus, writes The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper highlights
that the EU force replaced NATO troops “who have worked
hard to preserve peace in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
during the past two years.” The low-key mission is a gentle
start for the EU’s rapid reaction force, designed to draw
on up to 60,000 men, 100 warships and 400 aircraft for worldwide
operations lasting up to a year, including heavy-duty peacemaking,
adds the newspaper.
Stressing that the EU entered a new era as it launched EUFOR,
The Independent notes that the force will provide a crucial test
of the EU’s long-standing ambitions to play a bigger role
in the Balkans and the wider world. “One objective is to
test whether the European force would be able to assume the much
bigger and more complex peacekeeping role in Bosnia. The EU is
hoping to take charge in Bosnia toward the middle of 2004, if
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia operation goes well,”
says the newspaper. It claims that the EU’s “embryonic
military machine knows it must win hearts and minds in the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, because the EU’s image in
the Balkans is shaped by the memory of the West’s failure
to intervene speedily to stop the carnage in the Balkan wars of
the 1990s.”
Sueddeutsche Zeitung remarks that the first European military
deployment is taking place against the background of deep divisions
between Europe and the United States and between Europeans themselves
regarding Iraq.
TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS
- According to Reuters,
a European Commission spokesman said Tuesday that
Secretary of State Powell will meet NATO and EU foreign ministers
in Brussels Thursday to discuss the war in Iraq.
“Powell will meet at the premises of NATO with the EU
troika, i.e., Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou (whose country
currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency), External
Relations Commissioner Chris Patten and High Representative
Javier Solana,” a Commission spokesman reportedly said.
He added that it was still unclear how many EU ministers would
be present.
Secretary
of State Powell’s forthcoming visit to Turkey and Brussels
is generating prominent interest.
Secretary of State Powell surprised diplomats on both sides
of the Atlantic Monday by announcing that he would travel to
Turkey and Europe this week, a move seen as an effort to mend
key relationships badly bruised by the U.S.-led war in Iraq,
writes the Financial Times. The newspaper recalls that the trip
follows intense diplomatic activity to rescue the battered transatlantic
relationship. It also stresses that the visit will be the first
from the top U.S. diplomat since opposition from France and
Germany quashed U.S. efforts to win UN backing for the war.
The Guardian reports meanwhile that Prime Minister Blair has
started the daunting task of rebuilding damaged relations with
France, Germany and Russia by briefing European leaders on the
outcome of his talks with President Bush in Camp David. Blair
is reportedly trying to reassure his European counterparts that
he is pressing on the United States the need for a multilateral
approach, and especially a role for the UN in any post-war reconstruction.
According to the newspaper, Blair’s aides are concerned
to restore relations between Washington and some European capitals
before a series of high-level meetings scheduled for June. President
Bush is traveling to Europe and Russia, and will attend a G8
summit to be hosted by France at Evian on June 1 to 3. NATO
foreign ministers are also due to meet in Spain in early June
and a U.S.-EU summit is scheduled soon after, notes the daily.
IRAQ
- Reuters
reports the U.S. Army said in a statement Monday that
the United States has suspended the training of Iraqi dissidents
at the Taszar air base in Hungary, and those already trained
will be deployed in and around Iraq. The dispatch
also quotes a spokesman for the Taszar Training Force (TTF)
saying the U.S. military suspended the training because they
were now focusing on deploying the trained volunteers to the
war theater. The spokesman declined to give specific numbers
as to how many volunteers had been trained at Taszar so far,
but local media reports put the number at around 100, adds
the dispatch. It recalls that called the Free Iraqi Forces
(FIF), the volunteers’ mission is to liaise between
the U.S.-led forces and local Iraqis, and help in humanitarian
aid and relief programs.
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