Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

27 April 2004

ISAF

• A visit to Afghanistan by Gen. Jones and NATO ambassadors continues to generate interest. “An historic high-level delegation met senior officials in Kabul Monday to discuss stepping up the Alliance’s role in Afghanistan ahead of the country’s elections in September,” reports AFP. At a news conference following meetings with President Karzai and Cabinet members, adds the dispatch, Gen. Jones said the NATO Council had not yet decided how best to assist Afghanistan ahead of the elections. However, five more PRTs would be established by June and more could be set up in the run-up to September elections. “The Council of NATO has just approved a plan to extend the activities of NATO in the north and then afterwards in the west of the country especially through the instrument of the PRTs,” the dispatch quotes Gen. Jones saying. According to the dispatch, he added that the number of troops required by NATO for Afghan operations was not yet known but would be decided within the next few weeks. Gen. Jones is further quoted saying there would be greater cooperation between international agencies operating in Afghanistan following the visit and adding: “NATO is not acting in isolation. So … something which has been decided after our meeting is that there will be an even closer coordination among all the international actors, because there is NATO, there is of course Afghan authorities … and of course, we have the United Nations and Operation Enduring Freedom.” The dispatch adds that speaking at the same news conference, Foreign Minister Abdullah said the new NATO-led PRTs would be established before the Afghan general elections to help provide security for the polls already threatened by the militants. He reportedly added that “the need for further engagement from NATO in the coming months prior to general elections” was also discussed. The dispatch also quotes President Karzai saying in a statement he was pleased with the outcome of the visit. “This visit is very significant and demonstrates the commitment to Afghanistan by NATO,” he reportedly said. Under the headline, “NATO allies urged to help more in Afghanistan,” USA Today writes that Gen. Jones brought 26 NATO ambassadors to Afghanistan “to sell them on sending more troops, helicopters and medical assistance.” The article, which quotes Gen. Jones saying: “I’d be less than candid if I told you there weren’t moments of frustration,” comments that “getting assistance in Afghanistan is challenging, but hopes of getting help from the Alliance in Iraq appear dim.” A related article in the Financial Times reports that during Monday’s visit, Deputy NATO Secretary General Rizzo defended the organization’s peacekeeping performance in Afghanistan and said it would fulfill its pledge to expand forces around the country by June. The organization would set up five PRTs to add to one it already runs in northern Afghanistan, and consider further expansion at a NATO summit in June, Rizzo reportedly said. According to the newspaper, he added that NATO was considering widening its role beyond the five new PRTs by helping with border control and with boosting security ahead of elections but he offered no specifics. The newspaper notes that ISAF’s expansion beyond Kabul has faltered in the face of members’ reluctance to take on expensive and potentially dangerous operations and by a lack of hardware to support an expanded force. It adds, however, that local and foreign officials are worried that in the absence of more foreign peacekeepers, clashes between provincial commanders, political intimidation and a violent Taliban insurgency in the south will mar elections scheduled for September.

ESDP

• The EU’s collective military power will be put to the test this year after foreign ministers Monday backed strategic plans to take over SFOR, reports the Financial Times. The article remarks that the plans, unveiled in Luxembourg, end months of wrangling with NATO over the scope of the EU mission. The EU already runs the small 300-strong mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which it took over from NATO and the more substantial police mission in Bosnia once run by the UN. But the 7,000-strong force in Bosnia, which will be commanded by Britain, will have a much longer and complex mandate. It is supposed to create a viable, peaceful and multi-ethnic Bosnia with the long-term prospect of EU membership. In practice, it will mean that the EU and NATO will have to work very closely, the article observes. It adds that the Europeans will have access to NATO’s assets and planning, which will be conducted by the deputy head of the military planning division of NATO. “This will give the U.S. an overview of the operation, which it was initially highly suspicious of,” the newspaper claims, adding that the EU, contrary to earlier U.S. plans, will have responsibility with NATO to arrest alleged war criminals indicted by the ICTY. Once formally approved by NATO at its Istanbul summit, the EU will speed preparations to take over the NATO mission by securing troop commitments from member states, the newspaper further says.