Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

22 October 2003

NATO

• NATO Secretary-General Robertson said that Franco-German plans for a EU military headquarters independent of the alliance were a waste of money. “You cannot create a stronger EU by weakening NATO,” he said in Brussels. “(Berlin Plus) means that countries like Belgium can invest in the usable capabilities we desperately need...rather than wasting money on duplicating in the EU expensive assets and headquarters which already exist in NATO,” he added. EU foreign policy chief Solana said that the meeting had been “very constructive...in a good climate as always,” and Lord Robertson said there was unanimity on the need to avoid duplication and competition between the two institutions. Solana said the EU needed to establish a planning capability for military missions independent of NATO. Adding that EU states’ national headquarters could be “multi-nationalised” for such operations. (Reuters 212031 GMT Oct 03)

IRAQ

• More U.S. National Guard and Reserve troops will be notified within weeks to serve in Iraq, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld would not predict whether 133,000 troops now there might be reduced next year. Marine Corps Gen. Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said military leaders will advise Rumsfeld in two or three weeks on additional logistics and other support units that will be needed for rotation duty in Iraq. (Reuters 211953 GMT Oct 03)
  
  
• A top EU official defended the bloc’s 200 million euro contribution for Iraqi reconstruction on Tuesday and said more could be forthcoming next year - but only if the security situation there improves. In an interview with The Associated Press, EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten also defended France and Germany for ruling out any more money from their national budgets now. “I don’t think that the last six months encourages the view that any criticism of the (U.S.) policy on Iraq is motivated by anti-Americanism,” he said. “A lot of the criticism we’ve heard about policy in Iraq has clearly been motivated by good sense.” Patten, who administers the Commission’s foreign aid budget, said he would go back to EU governments in March 2004, “by which time we’ll know more about the security situation, more about the real needs,” to discuss proposals for further assistance. (AP 212005 Oct 03)

AFGHANISTAN

• The commander of ISAF called on Tuesday for the demilitarisation of the capital, as the war-torn country prepares to launch an ambitious plan to disarm 100,000 factional fighters. Lieutenant-General Gliemeroth, German commander of ISAF, also said that better security in the provinces was vital to maintaining security in the capital. “ISAF definitely asks for a demilitarised city of Kabul. That means ISAF strongly supports the removal of heavy weapons from the city of Kabul out to cantonment sites on its outer limits,” he told a news conference. He said the demilitarisation of Kabul was part of Afghanistan’s 2001 Bonn peace agreement. “We are promoting very strongly that these heavy weapons are moved out of Kabul by the current owners,” he said, adding that ISAF was ready to assist the process. The first deployment outside Kabul will be of 450 German peacekeepers to the northern province of Kunduz, where the disarmament plan is due to start. A NATO official in Brussels said a 70-strong advance group of Germans was due to leave for Afghanistan on Friday, subject to parliamentary approval. (Reuters 211347 GMT Oct 03)