Afghanistan Strategic Challenge for NATO, Pentagon Chief Says
11 February 2007
Defense secretary Gates says NATO adapting to global challenges
Washington – Afghanistan represents a continuing military and political test for NATO, according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who has called up alliance members to meet their commitments to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating there under a mandate from the United Nations.
In an address to the 43rd Conference on Security Policy in Munich, Germany, on February 11, Gates said Afghanistan has pushed NATO to shift its orientation from the defense of fixed Cold War borders into an era of unconventional and often global threats to the shared values and interests of its 26 democratic members.
STRATEGIC CHALLENGES
Gates defined the threats facing NATO and its allies as having three interconnected elements:
• "Fault lines" of sectarian violence and jihadists movements emanating from the Middle East;
• Iran, with its ambitious for regional hegemony and nuclear weapons; and
• The struggle for the future of Iraq, with its enormous consequences for the Middle East and the entire international community.
"The dark talent of the extremists today is to combine new technologies and old hatreds," Gates said. This threat has "revealed even more starkly the need to reorient the Atlantic Alliance to be able to export security beyond the borders of NATO." (See related article.)
Praising NATO as " the most potent alliance in the history of the world," Gates called on its members to meet their commitment of devoting 2 percent of Gross Domestic Product to defense spending.
The alliance, he said, "is the shield behind which the ideas and values we share are spreading around the globe. In short, meeting our commitment to one another and to those we strive to help – from the Balkans to Afghanistan – is critical to our success and theirs." (See related article.)
In an indirect response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 10 remarks criticizing U.S. foreign policy, Gates said today's world is much more complex than the Cold War era of 20 or 30 years ago, and its problems must be addressed in partnership with other nations, including Russia.
"One Cold War was quite enough," Gates declared.
AFGHANISTAN
On February 9, speaking at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Seville, Spain, Gates confirmed the decision to extend the deployment of a U.S. combat brigade for 120 days, "effectively doubling our current commitment of maneuver forces." This action is in addition to a two-year U.S. commitment of $8.6 billion for Afghan defense forces and $2 billion for development, according to Gates. (See related article.)
While praising the level of NATO's first deployment outside of Europe as "extraordinary," Gates urged Alliance members to provide the additional troops and resources so that ISAF could conduct offensive operations against Taliban insurgents in the spring.
In his Munich address, Gates said, "If we take the necessary steps now, the offensive in Afghanistan this spring will be our offensive -- one that will inflict a powerful setback on the enemy of an elected government supported by the overwhelming majority of the Afghan people."
The NATO Supreme Commander, General Bantz J. Craddock, said he was encouraged by recent talks with Pakistan officials about the need to exert better control over the border with Afghanistan.
“The key is driving a wedge between the foot soldiers and the hard core ideologues, the diehard extremists who will never change," according to Craddock, who said that the international community could create a "wedge" between the population and Taliban by providing jobs, schools, hospitals, and other social services. (See related article.)
On February 9, for example, a U.S.-Afghan Provincial Reconstruction Team completed the Gogomanda Bridge and the road lining Kabul with thousands of villagers who had been cut off from the capital by the river, according to Defense Department news accounts.
IRAQ AND IRAN
At the Seville defense ministers conference, Gates confirmed that coalition forces have captured Iranians involved in the delivery of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq.
“I think that Iran is very much involved in providing either the technology or the weapons themselves for these explosively foreign projectiles,” he said. “They don't represent a big percentage of the IED attacks, but they're extremely lethal.”
Gates reiterated, however, that the United States has no plans to attack Iran, and is relying on international diplomacy and deterrence to deal with concerns over Iran's nuclear activities and attempts to stir sectarian violence in the region.
He pointed to the deployment of a second U.S. carrier group to the Gulf as a signal "to reassure our allies, as well as to send a signal that we've been in the Persian Gulf for decades and we intend to stay there." (See related article.)
The prepared text of Gates' address to the Munich Conference on Security Policy can be found on the conference Web site.
The full transcript of Gates' February 9 press conference in Seville is available on the Defense Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. foreign and security policy, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.
(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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