Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

14 August 2003

ISAF

• According to Die Welt, the new ISAF commander, German Lt. Gen. Gliemeroth, is advocating a rapid expansion of the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan to the country’s provinces. “I personally consider this is urgently needed…. I strongly hope that several nations, particularly Germany, will come to a final decision on this before the end of this year,” Gen. Gliemeroth is quoted saying. He reportedly warned of dramatic consequences if one failed to bring security to the provinces, stressing: “We run the danger of incurring what nobody wants—the installation of geographically narrowly limited security in a small region which, without wanting to be cynical, one could call ‘Kabulistan.’” The newspaper notes that the German government is expected to make a decision on expanding the mission of Bundeswehr troops in Afghanistan by early September. It adds that “after a cabinet meeting Wednesday, it was learned from government circles that the German soldiers would be deployed within the framework of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).”

IRAQ

• Turkish media focus on the possible dispatch of Turkish soldiers to Iraq. Milliyet asserts that Maj. Gen. Sahinturk of the First Tactical Divisional Headquarters based in Mamak, Ankara, will be in charge should Turkish units be sent to Iraq. He will be assisted by two brigadier generals. One will serve in Baghdad with the other serving at the U.S. Command Center in northern Iraq. The daily adds that Turkish forces are likely to serve in Iraq’s predominantly Sunni Arab center. It stresses that the following elements are earmarked for the mission: the 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, psy-ops units, Gendarmerie reinforcements, armed and transport helicopters, forward air observers from the Air Force, special forces command elements, military sociologists and psychologists, public relations experts and interpreters. The newspaper claims that responses to a list of questions sent to the United States regarding the duties of Turkish soldiers will be made verbally by U.S. delegations expected to come to Turkey for talks with the military ahead of an Aug. 22 meeting of the National Security Council. A related Hurriyet article says Ankara is expected to send around 10,000 servicemen to Iraq, making it the third largest force after the United States and Britain.

ANTI-TERRORISM

• The Guardian reports that fearing terrorism from the sea, the United States signed an agreement Wednesday to pay for radioactivity detectors at the port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is quoted saying the $3 million system will scan some of the 6 million containers passing through Rotterdam each year and will “improve our mutual efforts to prevent the illicit traffic of nuclear materials.” The newspaper notes that the project is the latest in a series of U.S. security measures implemented in Rotterdam and other world ports after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It stresses that security officials long have worried about terrorists using container shipments to hide nuclear material that could be used to make a dirty bomb, which uses conventional explosives to spread radiation.

LIBERIA

• Electronic media report that some 200 U.S. Marines have begun arriving in Liberia to help West African peacekeepers secure the looting-ravaged port area of the capital Monrovia. CNN quoted Pentagon officials saying the contingent includes a “quick reaction force” of about 150 Marines who will assist the Nigerian-led peacekeeping group should they “get in trouble.”