Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

10 October 2003

IRAQ

• NATO Secretary-General Robertson suggested on Thursday that the alliance was prepared to provide logistics and other military support to Turkish troops if they were sent to Iraq. But Lord Robertson also cautioned that the alliance, with a major peacekeeping task in Afghanistan already on its plate, must be very careful about any direct military involvement in Iraq under the alliance banner. (Reuters 092036 GMT Oct 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• NATO Secretary-General Robertson sought contributions of troops and supplies from allies on Thursday to extend the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan beyond the Kabul region. He said NATO would not take a decision to expand its peacekeeping operation into provinces until alliance nations offer the required forces. (Reuters 092231 GMT Oct 03)

NATO

• Turkey and Greece agreed to postpone for another year military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea as part of confidence-building steps between them. “This year these exercises will not be held,” Foreign Minister Gul told reporters after talks with his Greek counterpart Papandreou at the Mediterranean Forum (FOROMED) meeting of foreign ministers in southern Turkey. (Reuters 091859 GMT Oct 03)

RUSSIA

• Russia soothed concerns at NATO over its nuclear posture, ruling out a policy of pre-emptive strikes and describing its former Cold War foe as a partner against new security threats. Defense Minister Ivanov assured his NATO counterparts in Colorado Springs that a new document spelling out Moscow’s military doctrine did not identify the U.S.-led alliance as offensive. But Russia was concerned about NATO deployments near its borders, including one which put alliance warplanes within three minutes’ flying time of St. Petersburg, and about early warning aircraft flights along its frontier. Asked if Moscow’s doctrine differed from that of the U.S., which reserves the right to use nuclear weapons pre-emptively, he said: “In fact, you are right.” “Russia still regards nuclear weapons as a means of political deterrent,” he added. However, Sergei Ivanov did spell out that Russia reserved the right to use pre-emptive non-nuclear force, particularly to protect ethnic Russians in states of the former Soviet Union. (Russia 100125 GMT Oct 03)

BALKANS

• The U.S. and its NATO allies believe the end is in sight for a peacekeeping mission that has largely achieved its goal but is still tying down hundreds of U.S. soldiers, the American ambassador to NATO said. Ambassador Burns said that final decisions are probably months away, talks among NATO defense ministers produced a feeling that the time is approaching for the alliance to leave Bosnia. Lord Robertson told a news conference that it might be 12 months to 18 months before the alliance handed off the security mission in Bosnia to the EU or other entity. Separately, NATO officials said that they may reduce the peacekeeping force in Bosnia next year from 12,000 to 6,000, and that some of the 6,000 who would leave would be stationed elsewhere in Europe with the understanding that they could swiftly move back into Bosnia if trouble developed. (AP 100058 Oct 03)
  
  
• Canada said that it would slash the number of troops in Bosnia next year to help deal with the strain of keeping a major peacekeeping contingent in Afghanistan. “I expect a very substantial reduction in troop numbers over the course of the year 2004,” Defence Minister McCallum said in Colorado Springs. He declined to say whether the planned reduction meant Canada would be able to keep its troops in Afghanistan beyond next August. (Reuters 092143 GMT Oct 03)