Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

01 August 2003

IRAQ

• The Daily Telegraph writes that, according to David Kay, the joint head of the Iraq Survey Group now leading the hunt for weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. has found evidence of an active program to make weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, including testimony from Iraqis ordered to dupe UN inspectors before the war. Although he called for patience, Mr. Kay predicted that doubters were in for a “surprise” by the time his work was done. He reportedly admitted his 1,400-strong team of American, British and Australian experts scouring Iraq has not yet found actual biological or chemical weapons, but he also said there was mounting evidence of an active WMD program. The paper speculates that the first significant evidence of a program to develop WMD is a potential lifeline for Prime Minister Blair who has staked his reputation on the Iraq war. Briefing officials and Congress on the first five weeks of work by the coalition team, Mr. Kay is quoted saying: “We have found new evidence of how they successfully misled inspectors of the UN and hid stuff continuously from them. The active deception program is truly amazing once you get inside it. We have people who participated in deceiving UN inspectors now telling us how they did it. We have Iraqi scientists involved in these programs who are assisting us in taking them apart.” He finally allegedly said: “We are making solid progress. It is going to take time.”

NATO

• Slovak newspaper Narodna Obroda, July 30, reports Deputy Commander AIRNORTH, Lt. Gen. Jürgen Höche, saying that Slovakia should have at least one 18-aircraft squadron ready, equipped with the MiG-29 aircraft. According to Gen. Jozef Dunaj, commander of the Slovak Air Force, the Slovak Army is planning to maintain, within the framework of NATO membership, two air bases at the airfields in Sliac and Kuchyna in the Zahorie region, writes the paper. NATO will reportedly help Slovakia become part of the integrated air defense system, as well as with training and improvement of communication in the English language.

LIBERIA

• An article carried by the Washington Post, July 31, said the UN warned the U.S. that it will take three to six months to create a new peacekeeping mission for Liberia, complicating American efforts to ensure that U.S. involvement would end by October 1. The Bush administration, continued the daily, is negotiating a draft Security Council resolution authorizing the establishment of a primarily African peacekeeping mission, backed by the U.S. military. The resolution calls for the force to relinquish authority in two months to a UN peacekeeping mission that would help promote democracy and pave the way for elections. A senior UN peacekeeping official was quoted stating that it would take four to six months to get the mission up and running, but other officials reportedly said the timetable could be shortened to three to four months if most of the African peacekeepers remain in Liberia under UN command. The paper comments that the issue of timing is critical for President Bush, who has pledged that any U.S. intervention would be brief. U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Negroponte, reportedly told his Council counterparts that the UN could make the deadline. The July 31 announcement by the Nigerian-led Economic Community of West African States of a plan to send troops to Liberia by Monday, notes the daily, has set the stage for broader U.S. involvement. Two Nigerian battalions and an additional 750 Malian, Ghanaian, and Senegalese troops will be transferred to Liberia, specifies the paper. Talking about the force contribution, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reportedly said: “It will be one battalion, then a second and then broader West African peacekeepers. As you know the United States will decide during the course of this process… how we can support them and whether we need to do that with military forces.”

NORTH KOREA

• North Korea is apparently willing to accept a U.S. proposal for six-way talks on its nuclear-weapons program, reports the Wall Street Journal. State Department spokesman Boucher reportedly said an initial round of three-way talks involving the U.S., North Korea and China, held in Beijing in April, will likely be expanded to include South Korea, Japan and Russia. “What I would say at this point is we’re encouraged, we’re very encouraged, by indications that North Korea is accepting our proposals for multilateral talks,” he is quoted saying, but he wasn’t sure when or where the talks would be held. North Korea, observes the newspaper, has already demanded bilateral talks seeking assurances that President Bush has no plans to attack the country, but the Bush administration has regularly insisted the issue of nuclear weapons is one that needs to be discussed by all allies in the region, since it affects them as well.