Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

16 July 2004

GENERAL JONES

• The Wall Street Journal prints an op/ed by the newspaper’s Frederick Kempe, who recently followed Gen. Jones to Afghanistan. Kempe stresses that Gen. Jones spent the last months cajoling and imploring allies to deliver on their politicians’ commitments to Afghanistan. He jokingly quips that his title perhaps out to be “Supreme Allied Supplicant,” Kempe claims, adding that it will be Gen. Jones’ job now along with NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer and other senior allied officials to ensure that European governments deliver on fresh promises made at the Istanbul summit to increase troop commitments to Afghanistan ahead of the Oct. 9 presidential elections. While highlighting shortcomings in Afghanistan, Kempe observes that to the credit of Gen. Jones and the Alliance, he in less than a year has taken from concept to reality a NATO Response Force of 18,000-20,000 that can deploy within five days. In the same period of time he has fielded a biological, chemical and radiological response force. He has also streamlined the Alliance headquarters so it is more efficient and responsive. Noting that the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns calls him a remarkably successful “transformational” commander with unique diplomatic skills, Kempe adds: “At a time when U.S.- French relations have seldom been frostier, he brought two French two-star generals into new headquarters operations and quietly improved military-to-military relations. He also has had some success in his campaign against ‘national caveats’—the considerable restrictions militaries put on the soldiers they put at his disposal.” While one senior diplomat is quoted saying Gen. Jones presented the NAC with a list that detailed how national “caveats” impaired allied response during the outbreak of violence in Kosovo last March, Kempe writes that, as a result, there are now 30 percent fewer caveats than before. Kemp further writes that Gen. Jones now wants to implement a new way of force generation that would rid the Alliance of even more caveats and reduce the long time lag between political commitment and resource deployment that has so far endangered the Afghan mission. First, NATO would “look at the restrictions put on the troops that are being given to us, and we would have the freedom in certain instances to say ‘thanks, but no thanks.’” Beyond that, the process would change so that when NATO decided to generate a mission it would not first pass around the begging bowl but instead first detail needs, costs and specific resources needed from individual countries. Concluding, Kemp writes: “In the end, Gen. Jones’ success or failure may be of greater importance than most or all of the 14 supreme allied commanders who preceded him…. If Iraq has a lesson for the U.S. it is that wooing and winning allies on Gen. Jones’ diplomatic and bureaucratic battlefield is a critical and neglected aspect of addressing the problems of the greater Middle East. ‘I’m right in the middle of the most historic change that has ever confronted NATO,’ says Gen. Jones. ‘The Alliance is caught between what it was intended for in the 20th century, territorial defense conducted by massive armies, and what it intended to become a mobile, maneuverable, flexible and agile force.’ Yet there’s also a message for Gen. Jones that he learned at the Pentagon during his stint as Commander of the Marine Corps: ‘A vision without resources is a hallucination.’”

AFGHANISTAN

• Ankara’s Anatolia, July 15, quoted unidentified sources saying Turkey will send a PRT to Takhar, Afghanistan. The 200-member team will include 80 soldiers. It will leave for Afghanistan within a month and is expected to stay in Takhar 3-5 years. The sources reportedly indicated, however, that Turkey will not send any reinforcement units for the October elections.

OLYMPICS

• According to AFP, U.S. defense officials said Thursday the U.S. has not been asked to provide troops as part of security arrangements at the Olympics Games in Greece next month, adding that NATO discussions with Greek authorities continue. They reportedly stressed that Greek authorities have been adamant that security for the Olympics is Greece’s responsibility and foreign troops are not needed. The dispatch also quoted Brig. Gen. Rodriguez, of the Joint Staff, saying NATO is coordinating with Greece on their security plans, and the United states is supporting NATO. But, he reportedly insisted, “there have not been a lot of specific agreements and specific force contributions at this point in time because the negotiations are still going on between NATO and the government of Greece.”

BALKANS

• The visit to Bosnia Thursday by NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer and EU foreign and security policy chief Solana is noted. Media highlight that the visit took place as the EU prepares to take over peacekeeping duties in Bosnia at the end of the year. “NATO has full trust in the European Union, in its responsibilities for the mission the European Union will lead from early next year,” AFP quotes Mr. de Hoop Scheffer saying after meeting members of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency. According to the dispatch, the Moslem Chairman of the Presidency, Sulejman Tihic, described the transfer as “proof of overall stability and a positive situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina” and “another step toward European integration.” The dispatch stresses, however, that despite successful peacekeeping, NATO’s record has been blacked by its failure to arrest top war crimes suspects Karadzic and Mladic. Bijeljina’s SRNA, reports that Mr. de Hoop Scheffer and Mr. Solana rejected accusations that SFOR had done little or nothing to capture Karadzic. According to the dispatch, asked whether NATO knew Karadzic’s whereabouts on Feb. 20, as was claimed by the ICTY, Mr. de Hoop Scheffer replied this was not the case and further denied that there was any correspondence with ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte in connection with this. Asked whether the EU mission would have the authority to arrest war crimes indictees, Mr. Solana reportedly stressed this was everyone’s responsibility, namely that of the Bosnian authorities, the EU and NATO. Sarajevo’s ONASA, July 15, quoted Mr. de Hoop Scheffer saying NATO would retain a military presence in Bosnia to assist the authorities with defense reform and to perform certain operational supporting tasks, confirming that nothing had changed in the Alliance’s long-term political commitment to Bosnia-Herzegovina. A related AP dispatch notes that although the EU will be responsible for peacekeeping in Bosnia starting next year, NATO will leave some units to assist local authorities in defense reforms and to hunt war crimes suspects. The continued freedom of suspected war criminals has been a major obstacle on Bosnia’s path toward eventual membership in the EU and NATO, the dispatch observes.