Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

2 July 2003

NATO

• The Polish government said it signed deals on Tuesday worth -1.6 billion (US $1.85) to the former Warsaw Pact country’s ailing arms industry as part of an agreement to buy Finnish troop carriers. Poland signed a US $1.2 billion deal in April to buy 690 AMV Patria armoured personnel carriers equipped with Italian Hitfist turrets to help bring its forces up to NATO standards. Finnish telecoms giant Nokia also was expected to invest in radio systems for Polish rescue services as part of the agreement, though Polish officials said full details would only be announced next week. (AP 011834 Jul 03)

IRAQ

• Two months after President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, the United States needs more troops on the ground and should accept any foreign help it can get to crush resistance and start real nation-building, military analysts said on Tuesday. “The war has moved into a disturbing new phase, a guerrilla, counter-insurgency phase. We need to adapt,” said retired Army Gen. Dan Christman, a former Pentagon planner. Christman and other military analysts said the United States needed to adapt by getting more boots on the ground to deter attacks and to enable politicians to focus on nation-building and win over a distrustful Iraqi population. “Our army is absolutely stretched thin and we ought to be reaching out to all of those countries who are offering to send troops -- the Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, the Indians, and NATO – I’m not sure why we have been reluctant to pick up a NATO offer,” said the retired general. Dan Christman said the presence of other flags would boost U.S. legitimacy during the crucial reconstruction phase. Retired Air Force Gen. Chuck Boyd agreed NATO should get involved and he estimated several hundred thousand troops would be needed. “We need far more than 150,000 troops to secure a country of that size,” he added. Analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that the U.S.-led administration focused too many efforts on Iraqi exiles, who now seek their share of power. (Reuters 011959 GMT Jul 03)
  
  
• A former four-star U.S. army general who led a major and controversial attack during the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, warned on Tuesday that U.S. troops could be locked into Iraq for the next decade. “I think we are there for 10 years,” General Barry McCaffrey told BBC television’s Newsnight programme, stressing that the next 12 months would be very tough. He said the U.S. forces, with international reinforcements, would cope in the short term, but with two-thirds of the armed forces deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and South Korea it was not sustainable long term. “The coalition can’t create security and stability operations by themselves. You have to build an Iraqi police force and build a new Iraqi military...that is capable of maintaining their own security,” he added. (Reuters 012225 GMT Jul 02)

OTHER NEWS

• The United States will suspend military aid to about 35 countries that didn’t meet a deadline for exempting Americans from prosecution before the new UN international war crimes tribunal. Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer said the military aid cutoffs are “a reflection of the United States’ priorities to protect” its troops. U.S. officials did not identify the nations whose aid will be suspended. (AP 020057 Jul 03)
  
  
• The Pentagon is developing an urban surveillance system that would use computers and thousands of cameras to track, record and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a foreign city. Dubbed “Combat Zones That See,” the project is designed to help the U.S. military protect troops and fight in cities overseas. According to interviews and contracting documents, the software may provide instant alerts after detecting a vehicle with a license plate on a watch-list, or search months of records to locate and compare vehicles spotted near terrorist activities. The project is being overseen by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is helping the Pentagon develop new technologies for combatting terrorism and fighting wars in the 21st century. (AP 020005 Jul 03)