Posted on 12/06/2001 7:41:38 AM PST by oxi-nato
NATO put the fight against terrorism at the top of its agenda and agreed to upgrade relations with Russia, as it tried to raise its profile despite playing only a bit part in the US-led campaign in Afghanistan.
In a statement, NATO foreign ministers said their 19 nations will sketch up a program of anti-terrorism measures in time for the next NATO leaders' summit in Prague late next year. "There has to be zero tolerance of terrorism," said NATO Secretary General George Robertson as he opened the first NATO ministerial meeting since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. "The threats have changed, but our resilience and relevance have not," said Robertson.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell added: "Now, more than ever, NATO matters." "Every ounce of support is necessary....Don't stand down. There is a lot more to be done. Every ally is in the fight. Every ally can make a contribution," he said Thursday. The remarks were clearly addressed at critics who question the future of the transatlantic alliance, founded in 1949 to deal with a threat that has since faded into history -- a Soviet invasion of western Europe.
Senior US officials said the foreign ministers also agreed Thursday to a significant upgrade in NATO's relations with Russia, a day before they meet their Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov. "We have decided to give new impetus and substance to our partnership with the goal of creating with Russia a new NATO-Russia council to identify and pursue opportunities for joint action," the ministers were to say in a second statement, a draft of which was read in part to reporters.
The new body would replace a permanent joint committee that was set up in 1997 when NATO and Russia formally buried their Cold War animosity, but which allies feel has failed to work at full potential. Russia and NATO fell out over the Kosovo conflict in 1999, but have drawn closer together since September 11 despite Kremlin concerns about NATO's planned expansion into eastern Europe.
Powell insisted, however, that Russia would not find itself in a position to veto NATO decisions. "The alliance will retain the right to act on any issues, whether or not it has been discussed with Russia," he told his colleagues. NATO allies were quick to invoke their "all for one, one for all" collective defense treaty pledges after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington which killed nearly 3,500 people.
But so far, NATO's role in the Afghan war has been limited mainly to allied airspace and refueling facilities for US forces, and sending NATO radar planes from Europe to patrol US skies. NATO also backed the United Nations' "central role" in tackling terrorism, as well as the efforts being made by the European Union, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Group of Eight (G8). "We stress that military tools alone are not sufficient to combat terrorism effectively," the statement said. "The response must be multi-faceted and comprehensive."
powell continues to lose my respect after supporting the senator from kentucky [r] and now this criminal alliance known as nato!
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