Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

6 June 2004

SACEUR

• Greek daily I Kathimerini, July 5, carried a question-and-answer interview with Gen. Jones in which he viewed the forthcoming Olympic Games in Athens, the Istanbul summit and the KFOR operation. In introductory remarks, the newspaper praised Gen. Jones’ presence in Athens to discuss preparations for the Olympics as a clear sign that the Games have become a top priority for NATO and are receiving a great deal of attention. “The next time Gen. Jones visits Athens, he will be doing so as military commander of the ‘Capable Guard’ Olympic security exercise and also as a spectator of the Games, which he will be following closely as a guest of General Staff Chief Gen. Andonakopoulos,” the article stressed. It quoted SACEUR saying Gen. Andonakopoulos had invited him to attend the Games and he had accepted the invitation. Asked to express his views on Olympic security preparations, Gen. Jones was quoted saying: “I think tremendous progress has been made. As you know, NATO’s task is to offer security support, and we will be fully prepared…. As host country, Greece is responsible for the safety of the Olympic Games. We will offer the help requested from us, in terms of protection from nuclear and biochemical threats, information-gathering, naval security, and AWACS aircraft. So we are not talking about thousands of NATO troops.” Asked if there were gaps or weak points in security preparations that must be addressed, he reportedly said: “I would not use the term weak points. I would say that when you bring forces to an operations theater, you must build bridges between the capabilities of that nation and the NATO forces that are coming to strengthen and enhance those capabilities. Exercises and test runs have already been conducted, and there will be more…. I met with the minister of Public Order. It is important to have transparency between the plans of the two sides, so that all of us can march in step. It is a normal procedure, the necessary progress is being made, and I am pleased with the way things are going.” Gen. Jones was further quoted saying: “Greece is a distinguished member of NATO…. We know each other, have worked together for many years, we have strong capabilities and we want to do this, to support our friends. That is what a big Alliance is for; to do big things. Ensuring that the Games will be hosted with as much safety and joy as possible without an obvious military presence is a big thing.” This purported statement is also used as a caption for a head-and-shoulder photograph of Gen. Jones illustrating the article. Asked what had changed after the Istanbul Summit, Gen. Jones replied: “The first thing that has changed is that we decided to train Iraqi forces, as I understand it, both inside and outside Iraq. We also received offers from several NATO member-nations to add troops to the contingent in Afghanistan, which as you know will be expanded to other parts of the country, and some of our troops will protect the elections there. So I am happy with all that.” Discussing the violence which took place in Kosovo a few months ago, Gen. Jones reportedly said: “I am concerned about Kosovo. I believe we need more international political guidance from the United Nations. I also believe the UN must focus on problems there that remain unresolved. As for our military forces there, I am happy with them; we are currently trying to introduce some new technologies that will be useful to our command, but in the end, we need stronger international political will, and a clear final objective, which right now is somewhat vague.”

IRAQ

• NATO experts held talks with top Iraqi officials Tuesday on the Alliance’s offer to help train Baghdad’s security force. The delegation has the task of advising NATO’s political leaders on the scope of the Alliance’s role in Iraq, reports Reuters. JFC Naples Commander Adm. Johnson, who led the delegation which reportedly met Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim a-Shaalan Tuesday, is quoted saying: “The purpose of the visit is to find out what things need to be done and to present that in a report…. The political decision then has to be taken in Brussels as to those things that are needed, what NATO might want to do, or might be able to do.” According to the dispatch, Adm. Johnson told reporters no decisions had been made yet as to whether training would take place inside Iraq, under a collective mission banner or through individual member nations, or whether NATO might help arm Iraqi forces. “It’s a fact-finding trip. We haven’t got anywhere near deciding who’s going to provide that. Anything that we do will only be after we have been asked to do it by the Iraqi government,” he reportedly stressed. Shaalan is quoted saying he had discussed options for training as well as equipping Iraqi security forces with the NATO team, which included British Ambassador Curran and Italian Brig. Gen. Ficco. Adm. Johnson said it was too early to tell what role NATO would take and when its assistance would begin, says a related AP dispatch. “Adm. Johnson was heading the eight-strong military mission. Most of the delegation will meet with government and leaders of the coalition forces to explore options and prepare advice for the NATO ambassadors,” adds the dispatch. Paris’ Le Figaro writes, under the title: “NATO generals on a mission to Baghdad”: France has refused to see the NATO flag hoisted in Iraq. Its wishes will be granted. But at the Istanbul summit, President Chirac did not express any objection to the presence of NATO badges on Iraqi soil. This omission did not go away unnoticed with the Americans. Six NATO general and military experts took off for Baghdad Monday from the Naples headquarters on board a U.S. Force aircraft. Led by U.S. Adm. Johnson, the NATO delegation was to hold talks with Iyad Allawi, the head of the Iraqi government and the signatory of a letter soliciting the help of the allies for his country. After that, the high ranking NATO officials will have a meeting of a more strategic nature. They will meet Gen. Petraeus, the commander of the U.S. training program for the Iraqi forces. For this training, Gen. Petraeus has a $3 billion budget. He decides who does what, when and how. The NATO representatives listen, propose and dispose. The mission was officially agreed at NATO last Friday. When they return, the NATO officials will write a report on the modalities of the help to give the Iraqis. The newspaper comments: “Washington is hanging on a NATO label as if it were a safety handle. The Americans do not really need NATO to train Iraqi troops. They have their own training program, which is far superior in terms of means to any Alliance expertise…. Incorporating NATO would not change anything. It would even risk complicating the task of the Americans, irritated by the heavy procedure of this organization from another era. But for Washington, … what counts is the political label. NATO’s entry on Baghdad stage … will enable President Bush to stress on the East Coast that he has obtained the agreement of all the allies, including Germany and France.”

In the wake of the Istanbul summit, a commentary in French weekly Le Nouvel Economiste, July 2, examined the status of NATO cooperation, concluding that the Alliance is recovering its bearings despite Iraq.
“A few days prior to the NATO summit, the U.S. envoy to NATO, Nicholas Burns said that ‘NATO is in better shape than it was a few years ago.’ He is right. Despite the disputes over Iraq, and above all the skirmishes between President Bush and President Chirac, Istanbul has just demonstrated that fact,” the article said and continued: “A sharing of roles is becoming confirmed between (ESDP) and NATO. An agreement is taking shape among the 26 members on NATO’s military transformation. It is understood that the Alliance is no longer confined to the European geographical area, though the limits of its intervention remain unclear…. On Iraq, there is a generally ‘correct’ compromise…. There will be training of Iraqi troops and policemen by each member state that so wishes, and it will be up to each of them to decide whether to do this on Iraqi soil or abroad. ‘Iraq’s stabilization is in everyone’s interest,’ people in Paris are saying. President Chirac’s Office has made it known that Jordan would be a good location. With regard to Afghanistan, NATO’s engagement will be expanded….. The Istanbul summit also confirmed KFOR’s role in Kosovo. Last, in Bosnia, the transfer of power between the EU and SFOR … should serve as an example. This shows that an autonomous European defense is beginning to exist alongside NATO.” The article highlighted, however, that NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer spends a lot of time “seeking” troops from member states. “At NATO headquarters, people say that in Europe ‘out of 1.5 million men that can be mobilized, only 50,000 can be deployed with an anti-terrorist projection capability.’ NATO has a cruel shortage of operational troops,” the article stressed.