Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

16 May 2003

NATO

• Poland filed a request Thursday for help from NATO to prepare its peacekeeping mission in Iraq, where Polish troops are due to lead an international force in one of three military zones. Diplomats said the Poles had asked NATO's military headquarters to assist them in putting together the force, which is expected to number around 10,000. The request also concerns intelligence sharing, communications and logistics, officials said. A Defense Ministry spokesman in Warsaw confirmed the request and stressed Poland was not asking NATO for help to cover the costs. "All this has to be organized according to NATO patterns. This is not a request for financing," Col. Eugeniusz Mleczak said. Poland is expected to contribute up to 2,200 troops, but has been seeking help from the U.S. to cover the expected US$90 million bill. Warsaw plans to host a conference May 22-23 with nations willing to contribute to the Polish-run force. Several countries, including Italy, Denmark and Bulgaria, have offered to send troops to help peacekeeping in Iraq, but details of where they will serve have yet to be finalized. (AP 151548 May 03 GMT)
  
  
• A leading U.S. congressman introduced legislation on Thursday for NATO peacekeepers to go to Iraq and said more "military boots" were needed on the ground to secure and rebuild Iraq. Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, said a broader-based international force would enhance the credibility of the U.S. operation in Iraq. "These concerns (over security) lead me to believe we must have more military boots on the ground if we are to secure and rebuild Iraq," Lantos told a hearing on Iraq reconstruction. "The United States is not an occupying force but a liberating one and we must ensure that perceptions reflect that reality. They should be the boots of a broad-based international security force. And NATO should be at its core." A spokesman for Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who chairs the committee, said he did not know whether the congressman would support the bill because he had only just received a copy of it and had not had time to study it.(Reuters 1855 150503 GMT)
  
  
• NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson praised Azerbaijan's determination to integrate with European institutions on Thursday, but said there was no concrete timeline for it to join the alliance. "There is no doubt about the determination of Azerbaijan to seek integration into the Euro-Atlantic community and institutes," Robertson said at a news conference after talks with Azerbaijani ministers. He praised the country as one of the most active members of the Partnership for Peace program for cooperation between NATO and former Soviet bloc countries.(AP 151640 May 03 GMT)

U.S. TROOP BASING

• U.S. Secretary of State Powell on Thursday said plans to move U.S. troops south-and eastward in Europe were not meant to divide the continent but were based on strategic considerations. Powell spoke shortly after arrival on a visit to discuss the possibility of basing U.S. troops in Bulgaria and express appreciation for Sofia's support of Washington's Iraq campaign. During his three-hour visit, Powell met with President Parvanov, Prime Minister Saxcoburggotski and Foreign Minister Pasi. Prior to Powell's arrival, U.S. Ambassador James Pardew told journalists Wednesday that the issue of setting up military bases in Bulgaria will figure in discussions between Powell and Bulgarian leaders. On that topic, Powell said plans for new bases were not made to create "new lines across Europe, but just for the purpose of making a smart decision about the distribution of our forces." "We might want to put in place facilities that give us access to training areas in different countries or facilitate the movement of our forces through Europe to other parts of the world as we change the strategy of NATO not to deal with the Soviet Union, but to deal with terrorism, to deal with regional crises in other parts of the world," Powell said. He added, however, that despite the assessment made by military commanders in Bulgaria and in other countries in the region, "no decisions have been made, and I don't think that decisions will be made for some time yet."(AP 151354 May 03 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

• U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz will make a four-day visit to Europe beginning on Friday including stops in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia(sic), France and Romania, the Pentagon said on Thursday. Details of the trip were not announced, but the Defense Department said the number two U.S. civilian defense official would hold a "Town Hall" meeting with U.S. peacekeeping troops at Tuzla in Bosnia on Friday.(Reuters 2108 150503 GMT)