Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

17 November 2003

GENERAL JONES

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Nov. 14, devoted a full page to a feature by the newspaper’s Chirstian Wernicke, who accompanied Gen. Jones in his recent trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. While emphasizing the general’s diplomatic skills, the newspaper quoted a high-ranking EU diplomat saying his background makes him “a stroke of luck for NATO.” Wernicke wrote: “Gen. Jones makes use of the fact that he grew up on both sides of the Atlantic in order to resolve conflicts in the tenacious reconstruction of the Alliance from a traditional defense Alliance to a global crisis management tool. True, he is urging the European capitals to change their way of thinking, to modernize their armed forces. He can easily spend hours lecturing about NATO’s transformation. But … he avoids any harsh notes. He is the quiet American. Loud speeches are not his cup of tea.” Reporting on Gen. Jones’ trip to Iraq, the article noted that he protests against the idea that Iraq will become America’s second Vietnam. “What we are experiencing now is the aftershock. We have to get through this and I think we will make it,” the newspaper quoted Gen. Jones saying. It added that he highlights the successes in the reconstruction effort, to new schools, to repaired power lines—“all these things are being overlooked.” The article stressed: “This is what worries him. He has prepared himself with a formula against setbacks: ‘We have to wait and see whether this is just a peak of the violence—or a new level.’” The article further reported that in Afghanistan, where he appeared in his capacity as SACEUR, Gen. Jones asked military personnel about personal concerns, the food, about the cold in the night, the dust in the air that makes many personnel suffer from nosebleed every days. Suggesting that ISAF personnel are motivated by the “air of peace,” prevailing at least in the streets of Kabul, the newspaper continued: “This makes it easier for Gen. Jones to spread his optimism. He says it is great what the Alliance is doing here. He can see ‘the great NATO of the 21st century,’ helping a battered country to move forward toward a great future. Gen. Jones has particular praise for the Germans, whose Bundeswehr is just about to set up a new ISAF outpost in Kunduz.” Claiming, however, that during consultations with ISAF Commander, Lt. Gen. Gliemeroth, Gen. Jones assessed the situation in a more critical way, the article further said: “(Gen. Jones) knows that ‘his new NATO’ risks to overstretch itself in Afghanistan. Therefore, he repeatedly hit the breaks during his trip: ‘Before expanding our mission, first we have to fully equip our existing operations.’ This is a clear statement for Jones the diplomat as well as for Jones the general. This statement is a signal to the 19 NATO member nations: Only when ISAF forces in Kabul receive the 10 additional helicopters which have been requested for several months, will he consider expanding the peace mission to the Afghan provinces.” Remarking that Gen. Jones openly admits that the fight against international terrorism cannot be won by military means alone, the article stressed, however, that it is his job to provide this ‘last resort’ for the politicians. The article explained: “That is why at SHAPE, he is persistently working on his solution. The new NATO Response Force. This expeditionary corps … is supposed to be ready for deployments within five days—anywhere in the world…. Gen. Jones disclosed in Brussels recently how far he is planning: The NRF was just ‘a test’ for the change of the Alliance as a whole. All allied forces should actually meet this standard—this future military power could even comprise a million service personnel in the end. Because: ‘A vision without resources is a hallucination.’” Concluding, the article stressed: “But this will take a long time. When this vision becomes reality, Gen. Jones will no longer be in office. He has two, maybe a maximum of three years to launch his ‘new NATO.’ Iraq and Afghanistan serve him as an example, the NRF as a means to an end. In the United States, he stresses that with the NRF the Alliance is proving its value ‘as the permanent coalition of the willing.’ In the meantime, he explains to the Europeans that their contribution to this elite unit will determine the role of the old world in Washington’s view…. Will his transatlantic plans work out? This child of NATO wants to believe it.”

NRF

• In accordance with the decision of last year’s NATO summit in Prague, the Alliance’s Military Committee Thursday gave its consent to the participation of a Hungarian reconnaissance company in the operations of the NRF from January, reported Budapest’s Duna television, Nov. 13. The network carried a correspondent saying: “Hungarian Army Chief of Staff Gen. Szenes said being measured against a yardstick is important and beneficial for Hungary, especially at a time of defense force restructuring and modernization. He stressed that Hungary’s ability to cooperate internationally would improve.”
  
  
• The Stars and Stripes, Nov. 15, highlighted that NATO’s exercise “Allied Response –03,” which Thursday, will show off the fledgling NRF in a brief flurry of exercises near Izmir, will not include U.S. troops. “The demonstration will feature about 1,100 troops from 13 nations and include mock evacuations and naval embargo drills simulating a UN-mandated intervention. All told, Alliance members have loaned about 9,000 troops to the new force. About 300 of them are Americans. But America is the only nation with troops currently attached to the NRF that is not participating in Thursday’s demo,” said the daily. It quoted Otfried Nassauer, director of the Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security, suggesting that the American absence is strategic. “The Response Force is basically built to increase the pressure on Europeans to transform their militaries in the way the Americans are transforming theirs,” he reportedly said. According to the newspaper, he noted that the more Europeans are involved with the NRF, the fewer there are who are freed up for the EU-only counterpart, stressing: “The nations will make all their contributions from one pool of forces.” The newspaper also quoted an AFNORTH spokesman saying that although small and short, the NRF demonstration is important because “it’s actually the first time ever you will actually see NRF forces, NRF troops.”

ESDP

• In an interview with La Libre Belgique, French Defense Minister Alliot-Marie insisted that plans for an autonomous EU military planning center were not aimed at competing with NATO. She was quoted saying: “The Americans must understand … that Europe’s defense is complementary to the Alliance. It will not be against NATO. It will support NATO…. There is a minimum need for planning and a need for command. But we are not talking about a complex structure like that of NATO. We are not talking about a headquarters of 300 people. A modest cell of 30-40 people appears what is needed.”

IRAQ

• EU envoy Solana said in an interview that the United States accepts that to avoid failure in Iraq, it needs to bring its forces quickly under international control and speed the handover of power. Decisions along these lines will be made in the “coming days,” writes The Independent. The newspaper stresses that as the EU’s foreign policy representative, Solana has been playing a significant behind-the-scenes role. Until now, it adds, the U.S. has resisted putting the allied forces under international auspices, although there is growing support in Washington for a NATO role. The article quotes diplomats saying that during talks in Brussels Tuesday, Secretary of State Powell is expected to “test the waters” about the involvement of the Alliance in Iraq. “There have been no specifics yet about how the international community would control the mainly U.S. and British forces in Iraq. NATO remains the only strong possibility because it would provide international credibility while leaving control with a military organization which Washington dominates. NATO has already proved its willingness to act outside its traditional sphere of operations by taking a role in Afghanistan,” the newspaper remarks.