Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

19 November 2003

NATO

• Military reforms aimed at transforming Slovenia’s army into a small, professional and mobile force is running without a hitch. “I’m very impressed by the energy and determination by which this reform progress has been prepared and has been executed,” said Gen. Harald Kujat, the head of NATO’s highest military authority, the Military Committee. Gen. Kujat and his host, Maj. Gen. Ladislav Lipic, the Slovenian army Chief of Staff, discussed Slovenia’s preparations for joining NATO during his one-day visit. (AP 181252 Nov 03)

EU

• U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell failed to persuade his European counterparts to get tougher with Iran over its nuclear program. They agreed Iran should come clean about its nuclear program, but remained divided on how to achieve that goal. He dismissed a French proposal to turn over control of Iraq to Iraqis by the end of the year. “I do not see a group of individuals who would be enjoying the legitimacy from the Iraqi people” who could take charge of sovereignty, security and international aid by then, Powell said in an interview with France TV3. EU diplomats said Powell openly assessed the problems in Iraq but did not appeal for peacekeeping troops and extra reconstruction aid in an effort to build bridges with France and Germany. (AP 190044 Nov 03)

WAR ON TERRORISM

• Western governments and Russia are moving far too slowly to stop terrorists acquiring deadly ingredients to build weapons of mass destruction, a major international report concluded. Of a total $20 billion pledged by the Group of Eight last year to secure stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological materials, “only a tiny fraction” has been spent or even allocated to specific projects, it said. “The threat is outpacing the response,” former U.S. Senator Nunn said. He heads the Nuclear Threat Initiative, an anti-proliferation watchdog which largely funded the study by 21 security think-tanks. He said the war in Iraq had distracted the U.S. and diverted resources away from the need to secure WMD materials in regions such as the former Soviet Union. According to the study, there are some 100 poorly protected research reactors, spread across 40 countries, containing weapons-usable uranium. Praising a European diplomatic initiative to dissuade Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, Sam Nunn said terror groups were less likely to acquire WMD from a state than to source the materials from ill-secured research sites. Apart from money, the report said “Russian bureaucratic foot-dragging” and the reluctance of Russian security forces to grant access to some sensitive sites were also hampering progress. (Reuters 182250 GMT Nov 03)
  
  
• America’s new Afghan envoy said on Tuesday that the United States is redoubling efforts to find bin Laden and other leaders of both al Qaeda and the Taliban. The new U.S. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is to be sworn in on Monday and depart for Kabul on Tuesday, said more help is needed from Afghan citizens particularly along border regions of Pakistan. He said attempts will be made to convince Afghans that turning them in will lead to a more peaceful country. “There are Taliban leaders and people that are using Pakistan territory to come across and carry out attacks in Afghanistan. We would like, and are working with Pakistan, to bring an end to that, for the Pakistan government to be active on this,” he added. (Reuters 182349 GMT Nov 03)
  
  
• Italy ordered the deportations of seven North Africans, launching a crackdown on militant Islamic groups following the deadly attack on Italian soldiers in Iraq. The Interior Ministry said it was taking action against the foreigners for “grave reasons concerning state security and public order.” (AP 182021 Nov 03)

OTHER NEWS

• The U.S. military plans this week to conduct its final developmental test on the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal, a weapon so big it is dubbed the “mother of all bombs.” The Air Force plans to detonate a 9,800-kg satellite-guided GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, on Thursday at Eglin Air Force Base. A spokesman said the massive bomb will then become available for use as U.S. military commanders deem appropriate. (Reuters 181805 GMT Nov 03)