Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

29 April 2003

U.S.-TROOP BASING

• Stars and Stripes writes that Gen. Jones talked with some defense writers on Monday on a variety of topics, among them the possible reduction of forces in western Europe. The newspaper quoted Gen. Jones stating that he hopes that by October Europe and the U.S. will have a well defined plan for the to-be-created NATO Response Force. The interested European states however, reportedly adds Gen. Jones, will have to begin by reducing their combined 2.3 million troops, a move that should mirror the U.S. military withdrawn of 1990s. “They’re going to have start downsizing and reshaping…and start moving toward efficient forces,” he was quoted saying, before the NATO nations start addressing technological short-comings. He also reportedly spoke of the shift in focus on U.S. basing in Europe and he is studying, adds the newspaper, whether it makes military sense to move installations to some former Soviet-block countries where things are cheaper and not so urbanized but, adds the newspaper, he does not envision moving entire bases. In a related article, the Washington Post quoted Gen. Jones saying that some large installations such as Ramstein Air Base in Germany probably would remain but preliminary plans call for setting up new “forward operating bases” or “forward operating locations” in the east that would implement the bigger permanent installations. Gen. Jones reportedly described the news sites as “bare bones”, enough , however, to support U.S. military units rotating through for training exercises or for operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As a model , Gen. Jones pointed to Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. He also reportedly added that Bulgaria and Romania, which made bases available to U.S. forces during the war in Iraq, represent “extremely good candidates” for the arrangements under consideration. In a similar vein, an AFP dispatch reports that Gen. Jones said on Monday that NATO should slash its ranks. “We don’t need 2.3 million people in uniform, clearly there are economies of scale that NATO…should do,” he reportedly stated. Reducing staff size would make NATO more efficient, including its Response Force which may act outside Europe, the General was reported saying. Finally, referring to commands, he was also quoted saying: “There will be a reduction and closure of quite a few NATO headquarters.” USA Today quotes Gen. Jones saying the Pentagon is considering reductions of troops and bases in some of the most dramatic changes in the military presence in Europe since World War II. AFP furthermore reports Gen. Jones saying that the United States plans to boost its military presence in Africa to respond to new threats to the Alliance and U.S. interests posed by a certain number of countries that can be destabilized in the near future. "As Africa becomes more and more of a challenge and a focus, not only for us but for the alliance," he reportedly said the United States would consider "that the carrier groups of future and the expeditionary strike groups may not spend six months in the Mediterranean but I bet they will spend half the time going down the west coast of Africa." He reportedly concluded saying: "We might wish to have more presence in the southern rim of Mediterranean, where there are, large ungoverned areas across Africa that are clearly the new routes of narco trafficking, terrorists training and hotbeds of instability.”

ESDP

• “This summit is in no way anti-American nor is it an exclusive one,” said the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, according to the Financial Times. What was called a “mini-summit” between Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg to be held today, the newspaper observes, comes a few days after Giscard d’Estaing, head of the European Convention drawing up a European constitution, proposed steps to “lead to a common defense” for the EU. The Washington Times argues that the four states invited other EU countries to attend, but they found no takers. Britain and many other EU powers, the daily speculates, are too concerned with the aftermath of the Iraq war, the future of NATO, and the damage inflicted to the transatlantic relations to take care of a European army. According to AFP, Italian Foreign Minister Frattini warned, in an interview to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday, that the summit risked deepening divisions on the continent. The Süddeutsche Zeitung notes that although the federal government is basically in favor of an European defense alliance, it fears a new dispute within the EU. The dispatch adds that everybody was surprised when the Belgian Prime Minister invited Chancellor Schröder and President Chirac to participate in a meeting in order to revive the quite old plans to found a European defense union. Many among those who criticize the summit, the daily concludes, suspect an additional motive for the meeting: 18 May is the election day in Belgium and the summit, the newspaper argues, would be a good opportunity for the Belgian Prime Minister to be in the spotlights. In a related article, Le Soir writes that Paris and particularly Berlin have already dampened the Belgian enthusiasm: the idea of significantly increasing investments on military equipment or the creation of European Corps has already been abandoned.

OTHER NEWS

• An AFP dispatch reports that yesterday the U.S. reiterated concerns about the so-called “universal competence” law that allows foreign officials to be sued on accusations of war crimes after a report that a group of Iraqis are planning to use it to file a complaint against commanders who led the war in Iraq. Spokesman Richard Boucher reportedly said: “We’re pleased that the Belgian government has taken actions to change the law, but we believe the Belgian government needs to be diligent in taking steps to prevent abuse of the legal system for political ends.”