Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

2 June 2003

IRAQ

• The Financial Times wrote in an article, June 1, that the occupying powers in Iraq ditched a plan to create a 300-plus member national conference, which would have elected an administration in mid-July; instead they would form a 25-30 member political council to advise Iraqi ministries. This is seen by the newspaper as a move to accelerate the formation of an interim administration but cement coalition control over its decisions. The change, argues the daily, comes after a significant increase in violence between coalition forces and Iraqis.

ISAF

• An AFP dispatch, May 30, reports the U.S. Ambassador to the Alliance saying that NATO is to take over ISAF in Afghanistan on August 11. ”This is a big development. It’s what Afghanistan needs, one organization that will make a long term commitment, “ Ambassador Burns reportedly said. “The biggest story for us is the shift of NATO’s attention from within Europe to outside of Europe, to where the problems of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction exist,” he also added.

TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

• The U.S. and its allies during the Operation Iraqi Freedom launched on Sunday an initiative to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in a move set to become a test of the transatlantic relationship, writes the Financial Times, June 1. President Bush, notes the newspaper, injected a surprise element in what had been expected to be an informal discussion on weapons of mass destruction at the summit in France where leaders of the world’s biggest industrialized nations met. The daily, observing that the move came as a strong warning to North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, reported that some British officials said there is large consensus within the Group of Eight industrialized countries about the need to agree on “action plan” on Monday to combat the spread of weapons of mass destruction. President Bush’s so-called Proliferation Security Initiative plan, argues the daily, appeared to have taken France by surprise and it looked set to test the willingness of France and Germany to work with Washington. The Bush administration, notes the newspaper, is now openly reviewing the future of its relationship with its traditional allies in continental Europe. In a related article The Independent speculates that three days in Europe have merely confirmed in public how the U.S. intends to deal with France, Russia and Germany. With Russia President Bush apparently decided to forgive, if not necessarily to forget, based on Moscow’s support in the war on terrorism, and its increasing alignment with the West, while Germany’s opposition will not be forgotten: there will not be bilateral session in Evian and no invitation for the German Chancellor to the White House. With France, the resentment goes deeper still, since Paris not only opposed the U.S. policy on Iraq, but marshaled that opposition on the Security Council and beyond. Therefore, asserts the daily, the process of reconciliation between the two countries will take some time.

NATO

• Lord Robertson, according to the May 31 Stars and Stripes edition, said that Alliance rifts triggered by the U.S.-led war in Iraq are quickly disappearing. “I not only see them fading away, I see a sense of unity coming back quite dramatically,” he was quoted saying. Lord Robertson also reportedly stated: “Of course there were wounds at the time and we were affected by these divisions of opinion…But my view is, of the evidence I could follow, that NATO has healed those wounds quicker than others, and we are in business in different circumstances a long way from where we used to be operating.”
  
  
• An AFP dispatch, June 1, reports that on the eve of a session of the Russia-NATO Council in Madrid, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that Russia wants guarantees from NATO that it will not set up foreign bases in the three Baltic states of Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania, when they join the Alliance next year. Russia, adds the dispatch, also expects concrete initiatives on ratification of the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty.
  
  
• According to an AFP report, May 31, Japan and the U.S. on Saturday shot down the idea of a defense alliance in Asia similar to NATO. Both Japan’s Minister of State for Defense Ishiba and U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz reportedly share the same view on the subject: nations in the Asia-Pacific region are very diverse in geography, religion, culture, economy and forms of government and the region itself is really different from Europe. They both agreed that round tables for frank exchanges of views also on security issues as well as bilateral talks would better serve the region than a formal military alliance.
  

OTHER NEWS

• A Reuters wire dispatch, May 30, reports that the UN Security Council authorized on Friday a French-led multinational peacekeeping force to try to prevent massacres in a remote area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The temporary force will stay in Bunia until September 1, to protect civilians and secure the nearby airport until the arrival of the UN reinforcements, expected in mid-August. The first French troops will land in Bunia next week, the French UN Ambassador reportedly said, and full deployment would take place during June. The force, which would number up to 1,400 troops, with France contributing 800 to 1,000. Sweden, South Africa, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Nepal and Nigeria were considering sending troops, according to a Security Council diplomat, while Britain, Canada, Belgium and Brazil were considering logistic, medical or engineering help.
  
  
• The U.S. is considering the redeployment of its military forces in the Asian-Pacific region as part of a world-wide review to take advantage of technological advances in weaponry and the need for a more flexible response to terrorism and other threats, writes the Wall Street Journal. While most of the 100,000 American troops currently in East Asia are expected to remain in Japan and South Korea, some will be relocated to reduce their vulnerability. “Many studies have been done and many ideas have been presented, but no decision have yet been made,” U.S. Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz reportedly said, adding that the process of consulting both the U.S. Congress and “affected allies and friends in the region” is under way. Furthermore, speaking to reporters, he was quoted saying that President Bush’s administration is unlikely to seriously entertain the idea of moving U.S. Marines to Australia from Okinawa.