Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

7 July 2003

ISAF

• Georgia has handed over to NATO headquarters proposals to use its territory for the transit of military cargo to Afghanistan, reports Moscow’s Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey. The report quotes David Dondua, Georgia’s envoy to NATO, saying: “We have handed over to NATO … a few offers for the transit of military cargo to Afghanistan through Georgia and we are ready to realize any of these offers by early August,” when NATO takes over the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

IRAQ

• Against the background of mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq, U.S. media continue to call for an internationalization of the country’s occupation, specifically through a NATO role. Under the title, “Iraq policy is broken, fix it,” Newsweek stresses: “There is group of nations with large numbers of well-trained troops, experienced in peacekeeping and in working with the US. Army. It’s called NATO. The problem for the Bush administration is that calling on NATO means bringing France and Germany back into the fold. My suggestion: get over it. Even for NATO countries, sending large numbers of troops is not going to be easy. Besides, without NATO at the core, the coalition of Iraq forces will be constantly changing, an ad hoc group with no experience working together…. In order to get other countries to participate, Washington should give the UN a more central role.” In clinging on to ideological fixations, the administration is risking its most important foreign–policy project, the article warns.

EUCOM-GENERAL JONES

• The U.S. military is seeking to expand its presence in the Arab countries of northern Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa through new basing agreements and training exercises intended to combat a growing terrorist threat in the region, wrote the New York Times, July 5. The newspaper added that even as military planners prepare options for U.S. troops to join an international peacekeeping force to oversee a ceasefire in Liberia, the Pentagon wants to enhance military ties with allies like Morocco and Tunisia. It is also seeking to gain long-term access to bases in countries like Mali and Algeria, which American forces could use for periodic training or to strike terrorists And it aims to build on aircraft refueling agreements in places like Senegal and Uganda. Stressing that Defense Department officials said there are no plans to build permanent U.S. bases in Africa, the newspaper claimed that instead, EUCOM wants troops now in Europe to rotate more frequently into bare-bones camps or airfields in Africa. The newspaper quoted Gen. Jones saying in an interview, in his capacity as EUCOM commander: “Africa, as can be seen by recent events is certainly a growing problem. As we pursue the global war on terrorist, we’re going to have to go where the terrorists are. And we’re seeing some evidence, at least preliminary, that more and more of these large uncontrolled, ungoverned areas are going to be potential havens for that kind of activity.” According to the article, Gen. Jones highlighted that an allied maritime armada in the Mediterranean had forced international drug smugglers, weapons traffickers, Islamic extremists and other terrorists south to overland routes through Africa. He reportedly indicated that EUCOM was preparing to hold a conference of the defense attaches from U.S. embassies in Africa and, increasingly, ambassadors as well. “Gen. Jones said he envisioned what he called a family of bases. In Africa this would include forward-operating bases, perhaps with an airfield nearby, that could house up to a brigade, or 3,000 to 5,000 troops,” said the newspaper, further quoting Gen. Jones saying: “It’s something that could be robustly used for a significant military presence…. Over all, we’re trying to come up with a more flexible basing operation that allows more engagement through our area of responsibility.” Gen. Jones’ remarks were echoed by France’s AFP. The Washington Post writes meanwhile that “most of Africa falls under EUCOM, led by Gen. Jones, who has been outspoken about the continent’s potential as a ‘terrorist breeding ground’ and ‘melting pot for the disenfranchised of the world.’” The article claims that Gen. Jones “is especially concerned about the possible convergence of Islamic fundamentalism and oil wealth in West Africa, which may someday provide the United States with as much as a quarter of its oil.” For these reasons, the article continues, the Pentagon is likely in the coming years to acquire or expand basing rights in a host of African countries, rotating troops through some sites and pre-positioning material at others. “Gen. Jones has said he would like to see Navy carrier groups and Marine expeditionary units spend less time in the Mediterranean and more time patrolling the West African coast. There is even talks that a mission similar to the Horn of Africa task force could be established somewhere in West Africa to deal with the ungoverned wastelands that extend across northern Mali and southern Nigeria, where Islamic terrorists may be lurking,” the article further says.

UNITED STATES-TROOP BASING

• Reporting on a recent visit to the Pentagon by 12 German provincial mayors concerned about a possible relocation of U.S. bases from Germany, Die Tageszeitung, July 4, wrote that the municipal authorities were able to take back home the promise of the U.S. military that the U.S. air bases at Ramstein and Spangdahlem would not be touched, but instead, as planned, would be quickly expanded. The article added, however, that it remains unknown whether Spangdahlem will continue to be the base for the 52nd Fighter Group. Based on interviews with the mayor of Kaiserslautern, the article wrote that U.S. military officials refused to commit themselves on the question of the future of U.S. Army bases in Germany. They said various options were being worked out. Among other things, a general withdrawal of 75% of the U.S. troops in Germany was being looked at. It was being considered in view of NATO’s enlargement eastward. Also under discussion was a closing of bases in Hesse and the distribution of military personnel among traditional bases in Rhineland-Palatinate. The U.S. military was also pondering the possibility of shorter, unaccompanied tours of duty for military personnel in Germany.