Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

13 October 2003

GENERAL JONES

• Gen. Jones’ suggestion, at a Pentagon news conference Friday, that Bosnia could be stable enough for NATO forces to withdraw sometime next year is noted by the Washington Post. Under the title, “Troops may leave Bosnia in ’04, Commander says,” the daily quotes Gen. Jones saying that if trends continue in the northern Balkans nation, “during ’04, we could have a different footprint there than we currently have.” As the northern Balkans become more orderly, Gen. Jones reportedly added, “we’re seeing in Bosnia a real potential for ending the military mission there and transitioning to … a presence that will be more based on establishing police forces as a fundamental enforcer of the rule of law.” Noting, however, that Gen. Jones said it was too early to plan to end the parallel peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, the article further quotes him saying: “I would characterize Kosovo as somewhat different, because it’s at a different stage in terms of its maturity.” The newspaper comments that ending the U.S. mission in Bosnia would ease strains on the military caused by the large occupation of Iraq. It also would lessen Pentagon worries that post-Cold War missions are open-ended efforts that have a “roach motel” effect on troops, pulling them in but not allowing them to leave. “Gen. Jones said Friday that U.S. troops could be pulled out of Bosnia sometime next year,” wrote the Boston Globe, Oct. 12, adding: “Officials and analysts say Bosnia has moved past the thorniest worst war issues, and the country’s politicians are now focusing on more mundane issues like taxes and pensions. This has allowed politicians to look toward goals that not long ago seemed unattainable: eventual membership of NATO and the EU.”

NRF

• In the wake of last week’s study seminar in Colorado Spring, which explored the use of the NRF, German weekly Der Spiegel speculates that the condition imposed by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1994 that foreign missions outside the NATO area require the “constitutive consent” of the Bundestag could soon be razed. At the seminar, Defense Minister Struck immediately realized that the complicated rules under which Germany’s Bundeswehr is sent to the scene of the action are unsuited, says the article, adding: “A working group of the government coalition has already been working for months on the draft of ‘a parliamentary participation law.’ In Colorado Spring, Struck experienced how much that is needed. He became painfully aware there that almost all of his colleagues can decide on their own whether they will provide troops for the NRF. Only he must still put up with a cabinet meeting, three readings in the Bundestag and two sessions of the Defense and Foreign Affairs committees. It is now possible for the first time that the parliamentary proviso may disappear sooner or later. In the early 1990s, the German parties wanted to make foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr as difficult as possible, so war would be the last resort. But today, Germany is participating in eight international missions, the burden of proof has reversed.” Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Oct. 11, wrote: “It has long been clear what NATO intends. The allies have been working since September of last year to create a highly-equipped fighting unit that in principle can strike at any time anywhere in the world within five days. This NRF is designed to free hostages, chase terrorists or intervene in rogue states that possess NBC weapons. No one makes a secret of any of this. On the contrary, the ‘new NATO’ triumphantly displays its NRF on the Internet…. Things get started Wednesday, when the first 6,000 troops of this allied expeditionary corps will be ceremoniously presented…. To be sure, it can be, and indeed must be debated whether the obligation to issue lighting-quick marching orders in the NATO framework should now fall victim … of Parliament’s say over war and peace.” Budapest’s Kossuth Radio, quoted Hungarian Defense Minister Juhasz saying meanwhile that Hungary is going to eliminate itself from NATO cooperation unless it changes the decision-making mechanism regarding joint missions. Hungary has achieved serious progress in developing military capabilities and Hungary is performing above the average of member states in various military missions, Juhasz reportedly said. But, he warned, “it must not be forgotten that because of the cumbersome decision-making mechanism by Parliament, Hungary is a hesitating … member of the Alliance.”

ESDP

• Britain, France and Germany are working on plans for closer defense cooperation with the EU. The three major European players are at the moment working on developing plans for a unit which can lead medium to long-term military operations, reports Brussels’ EUobserver.com. If the work succeeds, the EU will have taken a further step toward the development of a common defense policy, says the report, claiming that the issue was discussed Sunday when President Chirac met Chancellor Schroeder in Paris. The report quotes unidentified diplomatic sources saying that if London, Paris and Berlin agree on an initiative, the Italian EU presidency is ready to table the proposal at the Autumn Summit in Brussels Thursday. The report adds: “The leaders of France and Germany reached an agreement with Prime Minister Blair during a recent meeting in Berlin on the principle of closer ties in the area of defense and security among EU member states. They are said to have agreed on the need to be able to plan and execute EU operations independently of NATO, something Britain was earlier opposed to. However, a previous proposal to establish a common headquarters in Tervuren outside Brussels has been scrapped. Instead it is likely that only a strategic headquarters will be in Belgium or perhaps in the headquarters of the EU Military Committee in Rue Cortenberg in Brussels. The operational center would then be located nationally and could differ from operation to operation.” Even though plans for the establishment of an EU headquarters in Tervuren have been scrapped says German weekly Der Spiegel, Britain, France and Germany are working on a plan to create autonomous European military structures.

OTHER NEWS

• According to the BBC World Service, Euro parliamentarians are to deliver a 100,000-signature petition to NATO headquarters in Brussels later Monday calling for an EU-wide ban on the devices used to detect submarines. NATO officials have reportedly agreed to meet the delegation to accept the petition signed by nearly 100,000 citizens. Parliamentarians argue the use of low frequency active sonar by NATO without proper studies into its environmental impact is in breach of the UN convention on the law of the sea, said the program. It noted that the action comes days after scientists argued that sonar signals may cause marine mammals internal injuries at close range.