Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

1 July 2003

SHAPE

• Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s announcement in Brussels last month that Washington was suspending its funding for a new NATO headquarters until Belgium’s controversial universal competence law remains in effect continues to generate interest in Belgian media. Local daily La Province attempts to reassure the population of Mons and its surroundings that as far as SHAPE is concerned, the headquarters is not leaving and its position will in fact be strengthened with the arrival of members from seven new nations due to join NATO next year. “The enlargement of the family circle at SHAPE will reinforce the position of the headquarters. This contradicts rumors of a progressive withdrawal of the military headquarters,” the daily asserts. Highlighting the importance of Gen. Jones’ views on NATO’s enlargement, the newspaper carries a short interview with SACEUR in which he is asked what problems he foresees in integrating the new countries into Alliance structures. “This will be my first close look at this kind of integration. But NATO has already learned many lessons from the experience of the last round of enlargement and I don't think that any problems are insurmountable. From the military-to-military standpoint, we've already had close ties with these countries for many years through the Partnership for Peace program and the Membership Action Plan, so we know what we are dealing with,” the newspaper quotes Gen. Jones saying. (SACEUR’s remarks are extracted from an interview in the spring edition of NATO Review, available on the NATO web site, www.nato.int--PIO).

ISAF

• Radio Afghanistan, June 30, reported that Defense Minister Marshal Fahim, who is also the first deputy to President Karzai, and a NATO delegation have completed an evaluation of the overall situation in Afghanistan. According to the broadcast, the NATO representative, in the presence of the ambassadors of Canada and the Netherlands and the military envoy of Germany, declared that NATO was ready to take over the command of ISAF. Fahim reportedly praised the role of ISAF and said the international community’s participation had been significant in ensuring peace and stability. He said he was hopeful that the expansion and strengthening of stability would provide the ground for free elections.

Media focus on the security situation in Afghanistan
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quotes Brig. Gen. Freers, the commander of the multinational brigade in Kabul, insisting that “there is no 100 percent protection” against attacks such as that which killed German peacekeepers serving with ISAF last month. According to the newspaper, Gen. Freers confirmed that there had actually been warnings about pending attacks and that there still were. “We are almost being showered with reports. Almost every day, several reports are received—from our own agencies, from NATO, from the Kabul police or from the Afghan intelligence service,” he stated. He reportedly highlighted extensive measures taken to protect the troops, but acknowledged that, in spite of these efforts, a certain risk cannot not be excluded. “If the forces barricaded themselves in their bases or only used armored vehicles when leaving the base, it would be hard to fulfill ISAF’s mission, which is to provide stability in Kabul and support the process of establishing an elected and representative government on the whole country…. We have to be present in order to deter potential opponents and to gain the population’s trust…. Achieving this is impossible from inside an armored vehicle,” Gen. Freers is quoted saying.
The provisional Afghan government disclosed Monday that widespread lawlessness might force postponement of the general election due next June, reports The Guardian. According to the newspaper, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah voiced his doubts about the election timetable in talks with Foreign Secretary Straw. He stressed the law and order problem and the huge logistical difficulties in holding an election posed by Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain. The newspaper observes that a significant delay would be a blow to the U.S. and Britain, which promised that, after the overthrow of the Taliban, there would be a speedy move to democracy.
A related article in The Times says Britain will pour an extra 100 million pounds in security and fighting drug production as the political and military costs of rebuilding Afghanistan soar Britain and other western states have refused to expand the ISAF mission from Kabul to the provinces, adding: “Instead a new national army is being trained by British and U.S. forces in an effort to establish the authority of the central government countrywide. However, only about 5,000 soldiers have received basic training so far. Within weeks, Britain is set to deploy a team of 50 to 60 soldiers and officials to Mazar-I Sharif as a ‘Provincial Reconstruction Team.’ There are plans for eight of these zones to be run by Americans.”

IRAQ

• The Washington Times quotes Pentagon officials saying Monday that two divisions of international troops will begin moving into Iraq by the end of this month to help relieve the nearly 150,000 U.S. troops now working to stabilize the country. According to the newspaper, JCS Chairman Gen. Myers said the international troops—up to 20,000 of them—are “gearing up” to go to Iraq. One division will be led by Britain and the other by Poland, and there is a potential for a third division, he reportedly said, adding: “The flow would start in probably July, August and probably finish out in September.” The Financial Times quotes Defense Secretary Rumsfeld saying Monday that the U.S. wants as many countries as possible to contribute troops to Iraq. The newspaper notes, however, that Jerzy Nowak, Poland’s ambassador to NATO, Monday admitted to problems in bringing together 9,200 troops from more than 20 countries, including Central America, for deployment under Polish command. “Diplomats say prospects of further help from Europe or NATO appear remote. NATO is overstretched, with commitments in the Balkans and Afghanistan,” adds the newspaper.

OTHER NEWS

• Britain Monday called for a comprehensive restructuring of the four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon program in an effort to slash the cost of Europe’s largest industrial project, writes the Financial Times. “The cost of acquiring the aircraft for the RAF over the next decade is set to eat up one fifth of Britain’s annual defense procurement budget. The British Defense Ministry thinks there is room to cut costs by 10-20 percent by removing some of he widespread duplication across the program as well as improving the contractual arrangements and scaling back on the unwieldy organizations set up to procure the aircraft,” says the newspaper. It adds that the other three customer nations—Germany, Italy and Spain—have signaled their support to the British proposal in principle.