Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

12 November 2003

GENERAL JONES

• Jane’s Defence Weekly, Oct. 29, carried an interview with Gen. Jones in which he said the network of U.S. bases in Europe must change to meet today’s geopolitical situation where the greater-Middle East is expected to be the geographic center of interest. Speaking in his capacity as Commander of the U.S. European Command, Gen. Jones reportedly said he believes EUCOM forces must become readily adaptable, agile and deployable. According to the newspaper, he noted that a complete examination of the bases should be conducted. He added, however that he was not advocating simply shuttering facilities. Rather, he said, the changes should help facilitate the EUCOM forces’ flexibility. The newspaper quoted Gen. Jones saying: “We are looking at three kinds of bases. The first is strategically enduring installations that will be there for a long time…. (For example,) the typical range of most aircraft from the U.S. is such that Ramstein is located where you would want to be anyway. Moving it 500 miles to the East doesn’t do you much good. The second is forward-operating base like Camp McGovern in Bosnia or Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. These do not have to be new installations. There are regions where there were former bases or airstrips or port facilities. With the acquiescence of friends and allies, we could establish an agile footprint…. The third level is what we would call forward-operating locations. These are really barebones sites for special forces, hospitals, true expeditionary forces, that can literally dot the landscape.” The article further quoted Gen. Jones saying that a realignment with a greater emphasis on Africa will be necessary, because Africa is “a looming center for attention.” He reportedly warned: “(Africa’s) large ungoverned areas could be a haven for the terrorists of the future. The governments that can’t control their borders are going to be threatened by insurgencies. Merchants of weapons of mass destruction are going to be able to use those places to hide and they are going to be battlegrounds for the conflicts of the future.” Claiming that bases will not be the sole topics of greater EUCOM interest in Africa, the article continued: “(Gen. Jones) envisages additional engagements as well, despite a U.S. military history of largely ignoring the continent with its engagement plans. For example, (he) notes: ‘In the future you might have a carrier battle group go into the Mediterranean and an Amphibious Ready Group go down the western coast of Africa and do a series of port visits and operations missions much like we do in South America.’”

NRF

• In separate contributions to Welt am Sonntag, Nov. 9, Defense Minister Struck and Chief of Staff, German Armed Forces, Gen Schneiderhahn, explained the military and political significance of the NRF. Stressing the need for a transatlantic partnership based on equality, Struck said: “It is clear that the elimination of deficiencies in (military) capabilities … between Alliance partners, and the implementation of the (NRF) concept are key elements for a successful transformation of NATO. This is important also because the temptation of our U.S. Alliance partner to fall back on the pattern of the ‘coalition of the willing’ … has to be reduced. We need deployable armed forces, and we need rapid decision-making processes in NATO and in the member states. In this connection, I support the adoption of a parliamentary participation law to enable rapid multinational Bundeswehr operations. I suppose that we will be able to decide on this legislation by the spring of next year…. The United States and Europe have to remain the first choice for each other. This requires the will to make substantial contributions…. NATO, in particular, should once again be increasingly used as a forum of common transatlantic decision-making…. After overcoming the Iraq crisis’ effect on transatlantic relations, time is pressing for us to work out the details of a renewed transatlantic partnership.” Gen. Schneiderhahn wrote meanwhile: “The Alliance is involved in the struggle against international terrorism and protects the development of proper and humane forms of state organization, because it has realized that only the two aspects together will secure success in the struggle against terrorism in the long term. This dual strategy will determine the transformation process of the Alliance in a substantial manner. This (is) a dual and extraordinary challenge. The national transformation processes of 19 or 26 nations must be coordinated and controlled with a view to our common objective. It will not be sufficient in the long run simply to make abstract calls for more capabilities for individual partners. Just demanding things to be ‘higher, farther and quicker’ will be of little avail. We need to define together why we want to do things. This is an enormous challenge for the Alliance to make sure that in the end we have better, rapidly operational, and mobile armed forces. I believe that the (NRF) is an operationally meaningful beginning…. The Bundeswehr must have armed forces that are rapidly and efficiently operational, together with those of other nations across the whole spectrum of operations. Those elements in the armed forces that have to be capable of cooperating within a multinational framework, such as the unit envisaged for the (NRF), must have priority with regard to technical equipment.”

NATO

• According to the Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 11, more than 200 NATO delegates meeting in Orlando Tuesday unanimously called for the organization to take a greater role in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The daily observed that the vote will not necessarily translate into the greater NATO role in Iraq that many in Congress and the Bush administration would welcome. But, it said, some among the NATO delegation considered the vote an encouraging show of unanimity for the Alliance. Members of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly reportedly adopted a 16-point resolution on Iraq almost without debate at Tuesday’s closing of the five-day session. The resolution calls for NATO to play a “formal role” in Iraq, assist in the reconstruction of the country and ensure that political control is returned to the Iraqi people as soon as possible. “While the resolution will not translate into an immediate military help in Iraq, the session at least showed some healing of the wounds opened during the rhetorical battle about the war,” the daily commented.

Calls by leading U.S. Democrats for making the stabilization effort in Iraq a NATO-led operation were noted by French daily Le Figaro, Nov. 11. “In the ranks of the Democratic opposition, several leading figures have suggested outright to George Bush organizing a summit on Iraq with his European allies and turning over command of military operations to NATO. But it has not yet come to that,” said the newspaper.

IRAQ

• Electronic media quoted Rome officials saying at least 14 Italians were killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing at the Italian military police headquarters in the southern Iraq city of Nasiriya. CNN reported that 11 of the dead were members of the Carabinieri and three were from the Italian Army. There were fears that others could still be trapped in the rubble. The program quoted a coalition spokesman saying the explosion occurred after a truck approached one of the buildings. The vehicle rammed the gate of the compound and exploded in front of the Carabinieri building, the spokesman reportedly indicated.