Posted on 10/15/2003 7:23:25 PM PDT by thefamous
NATO Unveils Strike Force, Key to Alliance Future
BRUNSSUM, Netherlands (Reuters) - A cutting-edge force of warships, fighter planes and 9,000 troops was born on Wednesday, the product of NATO's drive to provide the answer to post-Sept. 11 security threats wherever they blow up.
It was a rare moment of glory for the Cold War alliance, which was plunged into self-doubt when Washington sidelined it after the 2001 hijacked airliner attacks on the United States and was then roiled by transatlantic divisions over Iraq.
The alliance's top soldier, U.S. Marines General James Jones, said the birth of the NATO Response Force (NRF) was "one of the most important changes" in the organization since its founding Washington Treaty was signed 54 years ago.
"The NRF will give the alliance the military capability to do what it could not before: insert military forces into a deteriorating situation earlier in a crisis, with more speed, at greater ranges and with more sustainability than ever before."
Jones handed the new force's flag to its commander, General Jack Deverell, during a ceremony at the 19-nation alliance's northern headquarters in Brunssum, the Netherlands.
The NRF -- lethal, agile and ready to be deployed to hotspots within five days -- is expected to grow to some 20,000 troops and become fully operational by October 2006.
Jones said some countries with cumbersome and time-consuming parliamentary procedures for authorizing military action abroad, such as Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Turkey, had agreed to consider making exceptions for the NRF.
He told a news conference that if these countries could not smooth the way to rapid deployment, their forces would have to be excluded.
SPAIN, FRANCE BIG CONTRIBUTORS
The "prototype" of the expeditionary force unveiled on Wednesday is not ready for high-intensity combat. But officials say that, even in its infancy, it could be deployed for non-combat rescue operations and humanitarian crises, or as a show of force to deter aggression.
Of the 14 nations in the start-up force, Spain will make the biggest contribution with 2,200 troops as well as ships and aircraft, and France will be next with 1,700 personnel. Spain will command the maritime component and Turkey the land forces.
The United States, despite its giant military stature, will chip in with just 300 troops. Jones said that many U.S. troops were tied up in Iraq, but stressed that Washington would be contributing key technology now and more troops later.
The NRF is the product of relentless prodding by outgoing NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, who told defense ministers of the alliance at a meeting in Colorado Springs last week: "We need real deployable soldiers, not paper armies." A war game played out at that meeting -- in which a rescue mission escalated into a crisis involving terrorists and weapons of mass destruction -- sought to show the potential of an elite force ready for lightning deployment anywhere in the world.
For 50 years NATO forces were organized, trained and equipped to deter or defeat Soviet aggression in Europe.
The NRF, a concept floated by Washington at a time when many had doubts about the U.S. commitment to NATO, is a key plank in efforts to overhaul that Cold War military posture, which was static, reactive and regional.
NATO has already taken steps to put more spring into its military stride, streamlining its command structure and committing members to spend both more and more wisely on defense equipment.
It has also ended years of debate over whether it should act in far-flung lands, and two months ago it took command of the peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.
Do they have WMD?
(Attention/Warning/Alert......to Israel.....a possible NEW Islamic Strike Force from your NORTH.)
/sarcasm
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