Recent NATO Commander Sees Politically Healthy Organization
21 December 2006
General Jones also cites important tasks ahead for alliance
Washington -– The American general who just stepped down after four years as NATO’s top military commander says the alliance is healthy politically.
“[T]he alliance is an incredibly healthy organization, at least from a political standpoint,” said U.S. Marine General James Jones, who served as NATO’s supreme allied commander from January 2003 until early December 2006.
Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington on December 21, Jones said the highlight of his tenure was the accession of seven former Warsaw Pact nations to the alliance in 2004. The new members have brought “a palpable enthusiasm for freedom, for democracy, rule of law, and just the vast potential for those people that has been unleashed and that you feel every day,” Jones said.
Additionally, the general said, “I know of no countries that are trying to leave the alliance, and I know quite a few that are trying to … achieve full membership by as early as 2008.”
RIGA SUMMIT NOT A DISAPPOINTMENT
Asked to respond to criticism that NATO’s Riga Summit in November was a disappointment, Jones said he would call its achievements solid, adding that he would rate it a “B” -- the second-highest academic mark in the U.S. school system. A careful reading of the summit communiqué, he said, identifies important tasks to be undertaken by NATO in the future.
For example, energy security, nuclear proliferation and narco-terrorism are all topics said that will be “coming NATO’s way,” Jones said. Citing a specific achievement, Jones pointed to the inclusion of special operations forces in NATO’s military structure for the first time.
The communiqué also discussed “new partnerships” with strategic countries that fall outside NATO’s traditional sphere but want to have a working relationship with the 26-nation alliance, JoneS said.
NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE IN DANGER OF BEING POLITICIZED
Asked what still needs to be fixed, Jones said NATO’s Military Committee, set up to dispense military advice, “is in danger of becoming overrun by the early input of political … influence before the military advice is developed.” The committee should be organized so that advice addresses military problems, not political problems, he said.
“[T]he infusion of national politics on military advice at a very low level” can cause military advice to be distorted, Jones said.
NATO’s acquisition system, for example, “does not at all support the need of the soldiers in the field,” Jones said. He added that he spent two years, without success, trying to acquire an electronic system to help avoid “friendly fire,” at a cost of 5 million euros. However, the request devolved to “a 26-nation industrial-base competition between North America and Europe,” Jones said.
“OPT-OUT” MECHANISM NEEDED TO AVOID VETOES ON DIFFICULT MISSIONS
Another problem that Jones sees for NATO is “whether you want 350 committees all acting on the rule of consensus. Is that really … how you get your best advice?”
The general posited a situation where nearly all NATO members -- 24 or 25 countries out of 26 -- want to do something they consider important. Where, he asked, is the logic in allowing one or two members to block that collective decision?
“[W]hy not have a system where they can just opt out?” Jones said. He said this, in fact, happened with the decision to send a NATO training mission to Iraq. Several members said they would support the mission but not send any troops.
AFGHANISTAN: WHAT IS THERE, WHAT IS MISSING
On Afghanistan, Jones listed as positive aspects:
• Five U.N. Security Council resolutions;
• 37 sovereign nations have contributed 32,000 troops;
• 11,000 additional troops under U.S. command; and
• 60 nations in total are in Afghanistan, either contributing troops, engaged in reconstruction or development projects, or helping the Karzai government in some way.
“So this is a phenomenal undertaking,” Jones said, “and it has all the international legal ramification that you need.”
As for what needs to be done, the general said that to turn the corner and continue in a positive direction, Afghanistan “needs more focus” on reconstruction and development.
Cohesion must be brought “to the huge amounts of money that are being spent to do the five or six major things that absolutely have to be done,” Jones said. These significant goals include defeating narco-terrorism in the country and reforming the judicial system by raising judges’ salaries from the current $65 monthly to $350 or $400 monthly. Similar needs exist for the national police, Jones said. The narco-traffickers and the Taliban are able to pay their fighters more than the police earn.
Finally, Jones said the number of provincial reconstruction teams –- now more than 20 -- should be doubled. But he acknowledged that their work depends on the ability of the Kabul government to reach out into the hinterlands and exert control.
For additional information, see Rebuilding Afghanistan and The United States and NATO.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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