Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

5 November 2003

NATO

• According to AFP, defense experts warned Tuesday that NATO’s ambitions to evolve into a sleek fighting machine capable of rapidly deploying to the world’s hotspots will require a new approach, political will and above all money. The dispatch notes that on Monday, Gen. Jones told a Berlin conference that the NRF must serve as the model for the future, with troops able to be deployed in as little as five days. It quotes analysts saying, however, that politicians from the 19 NATO member states would have to change their thinking about the threats to global security and admit that trouble, mainly in the form of terrorism, could come from anywhere and at any time. The dispatch also quotes British Field Marshal Lord Peter Inge stressing that if the politicians want to realize these capabilities, “they’re going to have to dig very deep into their pockets to achieve them.”

Media continue to focus on Gen. Jones’ remarks at a meeting with the Foreign Press Association in Berlin Tuesday.

Based on an AP dispatch, the New York Times quotes Gen. Jones saying he sees the Alliance taking more stabilization missions, even pre-emptive missions in troubled regions to prevent them from becoming breeding grounds for terrorism. The article adds: “Gen. Jones said the Alliance has to transform itself from a 20th century ‘reactive’ force to one willing to deploy its troops to hotspots. The idea would be to use forces to help stabilize areas and train local troops ‘in western values and in Western ways of doing things’ so governments gain the confidence of the people.”
Philadelphia Inquirer carries similar information.

Based on a Reuters dispatch, CNN echoed Gen. Jones’ statement that lawless parts of Africa would increasingly provide a haven for extremist groups which are stepping up recruitment there.
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB News) reported: “Gen. Jones said in Berlin that Iraq’s worsening crisis situation was largely caused by internal factors rather than external interference…. ‘The problem is in the West (of Iraq), the Sunni triangle,’ he told the Berlin-based foreign media. He rejected the international media’s ‘second Vietnam’ analogy of Iraq. ‘I served in Vietnam, I don’t see a similarity. We learned a lot of lessons from Vietnam. I do worry, however, that every time anything happens, someone draws the Vietnam analogy,’ Gen. Jones said. He pointed out that the Middle East and Africa will be NATO’s ‘focus of interest.’”

U.S. TROOP BASING

• With NATO’s enlargement in mind, writes La Libre Belgique, the United States has started a global reflection on the deployment of its troops in Europe. Stressing that the outcome of that reflection will not only have a strategic impact on the European continent as a whole, but also serious consequences for jobs in countries currently hosting U.S. bases, the newspaper adds: “Gen. Jones favors smaller, more mobile units capable to deploy from strategic locations where they are not necessarily based. This flexibility would enable a circumvention of agreements reached with Moscow at the end of the Cold War, notably a ban on the permanent deployment of U.S. troops in Poland.”

IRAQ

• According to AFP, former U.S. President Clinton argued in Madrid Sunday that NATO should head up the security operation in Iraq under a UN mandate. “We should revisit the question of whether the UN could assume responsibilities at least on paper for the security operations as well as with NATO,” he reportedly told a news conference, adding: “If NATO were put in charge in Iraq, there would be wider international support for the operation there. The international community must join forces to push Iraq toward a bright future.” Earlier AP reported that in a televised interview Monday where he criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the situation in Iraq, Sen. Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the United States to “bring in NATO, bring in other folks and give up some authority.” A related article in the Washington Times reports that citing the estimated 600,000 tons of ammunition stashed all over Iraq in weapons dumps, Biden asked: “If we didn’t need more forces in there, why aren’t we able to guard these dumps? What’s needed now very badly is an urgent call for trainers from NATO countries and to try very hard to further get NATO involved in this.”

ESDP

• British Defense Secretary Hoon said Wednesday Britain will not participate in a proposed autonomous EU military planning and command center which will be separate from NATO headquarters, reports AFP. “We have made it quite clear that we see no benefit in having an operational planning capability that duplicates NATO or is separate from national headquarters,” the dispatch quotes Hoon saying in a radio interview and adding: “Rather than duplicating existing capabilities, we believe the extra effort, money, should be spent in improving the gaps in European military capabilities.” Düsseldorf Handelsblatt, Nov. 3, reported that at a security conference in Berlin, where he said the U.S. administration’s resort to “coalitions of the willing” was harmful for NATO, Defense Minister Struck also warned against undermining NATO through a wrong procedure in establishing ESDP. The newspaper remarked that in the debate about a European headquarters, Struck has clearly advocated that it should be set up within NATO.

ISAF

• Calling opium poppy production in Afghanistan “a weapon of mass destruction,” a commentary in The Guardian, Nov. 4, observed that despite a ban imposed by the interim administration in Kabul, nearly 200,000 acres of opium crop are said to be under cultivation. Noting that President Karzai has created an anti-narcotics bureau tasked with eliminating all illegal drug production within a decade, the newspaper added: “In reality, his government has limited influence over what happens on the ground beyond Kabul. Much the same goes for the under-manned NATO security force, despite plans to expand its areas of operation. Both U.S. combat force commanders and NATO peacekeepers, concerned with security, aid distribution and reconstruction, have reportedly declined to take on additional anti-drug trafficking duties…. This seems short-sighted…. The opium business has become a rich source of income for regional warlords and militias, who pose a serious obstacle to the consolidation of the central government and a successful, UN-led democratic transition.”