Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

15 December 2003

IRAQ

• According to AFP, NATO Secretary General Robertson said Sunday the capture of Saddam Hussein was “excellent news” and would help to stabilize Iraq. The dispatch quotes a NATO spokesman saying: “Mr. Robertson welcomes this excellent news…. This will help to bring democracy in Iraq and bring about the reconstruction of the country. We hope that it will lessen the terrorist acts against the coalition forces and the Iraqi population itself.”
  
  
• Prime Minister Blair’s special envoy to Iraq suggested in London Friday that NATO forces should take a more prominent security role in Iraq from the middle of next year, reports AFP. According to the dispatch, speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Jeremy Greenstock said he had a “personal hankering” to see the Alliance involved because it made political sense and would be welcomed by the Iraqis. A related article in The Independent quotes Greenstock saying he would personally like to see the military forces in Iraq placed under NATO auspices after next June, because that would be a sign to the Iraqis that this was a “multinational performance.”

ISAF

• AFP reports French Defense Minister Alliot-Marie acknowledged in Kabul Friday it was proving difficult finding new contributors for ISAF. “The problem is that NATO is present in a large number of foreign operations and the number of troops available to NATO cannot be extended,” she reportedly said after talks with Afghan leaders. She said ISAF could cope within the bounds of the capital, but it would be a different story if its mission is extended further afield. According to the dispatch, Alliot-Marie said France agrees in principle that ISAF’s mission should extend beyond Kabul, but she stressed that new missions could be carried out only with additional personnel. She indicated, however, that France does not plan to increase the level of its participation. She also noted that many NATO member states do not have the resources to increase their contribution in Afghanistan.
  
  
• According to AFP, Hungarian defense officials said Sunday Hungary will send a 16-member military contingent to Kunduz early next year to help a NATO-led mission restore order in the area. The dispatch quotes a Defense Ministry spokesman saying Hungary will send 10 soldiers and six police instructors to join the German PRT in Kunduz.
  
  
• AP quotes an ISAF spokesman saying Monday that a missile was fired in Kabul toward ISAF headquarters, but landed well short. The missile slammed into a road near Kabul’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday, about 2 kilometers from the base, the spokesman reportedly said. He added that the missile, an old Russian-made air-to-surface model, had no warhead and caused no injuries. The force reportedly had no leads on who might have launched the missile.

EUROPEAN UNION

• Media focus on reports that negotiations on a new European Constitution collapsed Saturday, over how voting will work when the EU expands from 15 to 25 members in May. The Washington Post observes that the failure left the EU facing one of the most critical crises in its history. The collapse of the summit torpedoes, at least for now, European leaders’ grand design to have a Constitution that would give the continent a new president, legal status and more clout on the global stage. It now falls to Ireland, which takes over the presidency from Italy next month, to determine whether an agreement is possible, stresses the newspaper. The Independent writes meanwhile that a multi-speed Europe with France and Germany at its core appeared possible Sunday night, as Paris and Berlin vowed to press for closer integration despite the collapse of talks on the EU Constitution. A group of “core” countries is ready to sign a declaration supporting the constitutional text which failed to win approval at the Brussels summit. Four of the EU’s six founding members—France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg—have lined up behind the declaration, and efforts are under way to bring the other two founders, Italy and the Netherlands, on board. This group will be boosted by others, including Greece and EU newcomer Hungary, adds the newspaper.

A defense agreement reached by EU leaders Friday continues to generate interest.
Die Welt, Dec. 13, wrote that according to the agreed defense concept, in the future the ad-hoc planning cell of the EU at SHAPE, which was set up for Operation Concordia, is supposed to be made permanent. At the same time, the newspaper continued, the existing EU military staff is supposed to be expanded through a number of officers who are to be responsible for early warning and strategic planning of civilian-military operations. NATO is invited to send liaison officers to the expanded EU military staff. For the case of an autonomous EU military operation—when the EU cannot resort to NATO resources and capacities—the first option will be the use of the national headquarters. The newspaper added that the EU heads of government also sealed the European Security Doctrine elaborated by EU foreign policy chief Solana.
France’s Le Figaro, Dec. 13, considered that a lot remains to be done to affirm Europe’s military independence, but, the article added, as a French diplomat stressed: “The worm is in the fruit, all it wants is to grow.”
Liberation, Dec. 13, insisted that “what appears to be a very small step in military terms is a genuine political advance.”

OTHER NEWS

• NATO has informed the Greek government of its willingness to contribute to the security of the Olympic Games by providing any technical means that may be necessary, reported Athens’ I Kathimerini, Dec. 13. According to the newspaper, Public Order Minister Floridhis noted that Greece is a member of NATO, which constitutes a source of such means of support, but dismissed any possibility of NATO being assigned to handle Olympic security. He reportedly indicated that by next month, the government plans to have completed a framework for international participation in “responding to any unexpected incident.”