Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

10 June 2003

NATO

• The Stars and Stripes, June 7, reported that off the coast of Alicante Thursday, ships from seven nations showed NATO ambassadors, VIPs and about 60 journalists what NATO’s naval forces can do and gave an example of the Alliance’s value and solidarity. The article, illustrated with a photograph of Gen. Jones and other officials at a ceremony in Alicante, quoted him saying: “One of the things that I’ve said consistently is that we don’t give enough value to what is already here in NATO…. The Standing Naval Forces in the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic are prime examples of a very integrated force that is a world-class force with world-class capabilities to include amphibious force projection. That is an essential component of the NATO Response Force.” The article noted that Thursday’s demonstration, off the coast of southeastern Spain, is an annual event. But, it stressed, it offered a snapshot of how land and air forces in NATO would operate in the future. The Alliance is undergoing a massive restructuring as the U.S. military is reshaping its forces overseas, added the article.

U.S.-TROOP BASING

• The Pentagon plans to significantly shrink the U.S. force of 70,000 troops in Germany and put far more forces in Africa and the Caucasus region, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, the push is driven by the increasing importance that the United States is placing on protecting key oil reserves in Africa and the Caucasus region near the Caspian Sea, as well as addressing concerns about combating terrorism. Adding, however, that the Pentagon is reluctant to cut the size of its forces in Europe too much out of concern that it might lose its leading status within NATO, the newspaper quotes EUCOM Deputy Commander Gen. Charles Wald saying: “Retaining our leadership of NATO is very important. We need to have a number (of troops) in Europe that gives us that status.” The newspaper, which adds that, according to U.S. officials, U.S. Army forces in the German cities of Heidelberg, Wiesbaden, Grafenwoehr and Wuerzburg are all likely to see their number reduced, further quoted Gen. Wald saying: “It is definitely going to get smaller” and some of the changes will take place “fairly quick.” He reportedly added, however, that final decisions have not been made and that several options are still being considered. A related Washington Post article writes that in the most extensive global realignment of U.S. military forces since the end of the Cold War, the Bush administration is creating a network of far-flung military bases designed for the raid projection of American military power against terrorists, hostile states and other potential adversaries. The bases are being built or expanded in countries such as Qatar, Bulgaria and Kyrgyzstan and the U.S. territory of Guam, notes the article, adding: “While existing U.S. bases in Germany and South Korea were designed to deter major communist adversaries, the new bases will become key nodes in the implementation of the administration’s doctrine of preemptive attack against terrorists and hostile states believed to have chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Their location is based on the premise that U.S. forces must be able to strike rapidly adversaries armed with weapons of mass destruction before they can attack the United States or its allies.” The article quotes Andy Hoen, deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy saying one scenario under consideration calls for the troops in Germany to be brought home and based in the United States. They could then be rotated on six-month assignments in countries such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, which are closer to the Balkans and Central Asia and less restrictive than Germany as training sites. The Independent claims meanwhile that the 16,500 personnel of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division will not be returning to their previous bases in Germany when their mission to Iraq is completed. “They will either go back to mainland U.S. or to new bases in Eastern Europe,” the newspaper asserts. Moscow’s Interfax, June 8, quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov saying he had discussed the issue of a redeployment of U.S. military bases in Europe with his American colleagues during his last visit to Washington. “Consultations on this issue are being held, particularly within NATO,” he reportedly indicated.

ISAF

• Reuters reports the bodies of four German peacekeepers killed in Kabul in a suicide car bomb attack last week were flown home Tuesday after a somber ceremony attended by hundreds of colleagues serving with ISAF. According to the dispatch, ISAF’s acting head, Brig. Gen. Robert Bertholee, vowed to carry on the mission despite the worst attack on the force since its deployment in Kabul. “Our respect for the sacrifice of our comrades can only be made in one way, to continue on the mission as well as we can, show determination and make clear that we will not be intimidated,” he reportedly stressed. The dispatch adds that Afghan President Karzai blamed the attack on foreign terrorists.

BALKANS-ESDP

• The Financial Times writes that 10 weeks after the EU launched its inaugural mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, President Trajkovski has said the force may need to be “transformed” into one that advises on border controls and the police. Trajkovski reportedly praised the EU’s “Operation Concordia,” saying it had been broadly welcomed by the population. But he said many officials in Skopje who would soon consider the mission’s future want the country to reestablish its own military role while maintaining an EU presence in the country. The newspaper recalls that the six-month mandate Skopje has granted the EU force runs out at the end of September. It stresses that Skopje officials are acutely aware, however, of this first EU military mission’s symbolic importance in Brussels.

POLAND-EU

• The BBC World Service reported that the people of Poland have voted in a referendum, three-to-one in favor of joining the EU. A 50% turnout was needed for the referendum to be valid. Final official results suggest the turnout was abut 59 percent, added the broadcast.