Bucharest (Romania), NATO Summit Update (Mar 13, 2008)

Mar 13, 2008 (Romania Report & sources)

NATO allies unsure yet on missile shield plan; NATO secretary general says alliance 10 percent short of its military needs in Afghanistan; UN Must Boost Coordination to Defeat Taliban Rebels, Envoy Says.

NATO allies unsure yet on missile shield plan

BRUSSELS - NATO will delay a decision on whether to commission a missile shield to protect those parts of Europe not covered by a planned U.S. system because major issues remain open, an alliance official said on Wednesday, as reported by REUTERS on Mar 13.

NATO allies Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey will not be fully covered by a proposed U.S. shield in east Europe to counter missile threats from what Washington calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

The United States had originally sought a decision by an Alliance summit in Bucharest next month on whether to go ahead with a NATO "bolt-on" shield to cover those countries, but a number of allies are skeptical about the plan.

"I don't think we are going to see a decision there. I don't see any nation pushing for a decision on an actual procurement program," NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Defence Investment Division Peter Flory told a news briefing.

"The questions tend to be: How much would this cost? How effective would it be? Where would it fit in with a broader concept of how you would deal with weapons of mass destruction?"

While insisting that Russia -- which opposes the U.S. plan -- had no say in the final decision on a NATO shield, Flory said: "It is clearly an element in our discussion".

Flory said NATO allies agreed on many aspects of the plan, notably the nature of the threat, the feasibility of missile defence, and the principle of "indivisibility of security" under which the security of all allies counted equally.

Consensus within NATO has been made all the harder because the United States has not been able to clinch deals with Warsaw and Prague on putting parts of its shield on their soil. Polish officials say agreement could be months off.

Some NATO members in northern Europe do not see why they should pay for a system that would be focused on protecting the southern part of the alliance, while France puts its faith primarily in its nuclear deterrent to counter any threat.

Flory said he expected NATO allies in Bucharest -- where Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin is invited as a guest -- to agree a statement acknowledging that missile defence can play a role in anti-proliferation policy.

But Flory said there was no agreement within NATO so far on how much a "bolt-on" system -- which would likely involve radars and interceptors on a smaller scale than the U.S. shield -- would cost.

Some industry estimates put the cost at as low as one billion euros split between the NATO members over 20 years, but a number of allies say the actual cost would be much greater.

NATO secretary general says alliance 10 percent short of its military needs in Afghanistan

Warsaw, Poland: NATO forces in Afghanistan are operating 10 percent short of their full military needs, and all 26 alliance’s members need to help fill the gap, the alliance's secretary general said Thursday, according to an AP report on Mar 13.

"We are, as you know, around 90 percent of what we need," Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters in Warsaw, where he is on a one-day visit a month before the NATO summit in Romania.

"I am now seeing to it that the rest of the 10 percent will also be filled, and that is the responsibility of the alliance and the alliance nations as a whole."

The year 2007 was the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S. invasion that toppled the Taliban regime. Militants have stepped up their attacks, placing civilians increasingly in the line of fire and posing a challenge to NATO efforts to stabilize the country.

"There's always a need for more forces," de Hoop Scheffer said.

He declined say which countries need to do more, saying: "I'm not going to mention any names."

All 26 NATO members have troops serving in the Afghan mission. Those on the southern front lines — mainly Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands — are irked that others such as Germany, Italy, France and Spain have restrictions limiting their troops to the relatively peaceful north and east.

Efforts to get countries to send more troops to Afghanistan and drop the restrictions as to where their soldiers can serve are likely to figure prominently at the Alliance's April 2-4 summit in Bucharest, Romania. Canada has threatened to pull out its combat troops if other NATO members don't come through. Romania Report & sources

UN Must Boost Coordination to Defeat Taliban Rebels, Envoy Says

The United Nations must coordinate efforts to improve security in Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is ``more ruthless'' than the international community ever imagined, the head of UN peacekeeping said -- as Bloomberg reported on Mar 13.

Government institutions are fragile, the opium trade is flourishing and countries must unite on how to tackle the crisis, Jean-Marie Guehenno told the Security Council yesterday as it debated the UN's mandate in Afghanistan.

``The UN bears its own share of responsibility for deficiencies in international coordination,'' Guehenno said, adding the world body needs the support of ``all international and Afghan partners.''

The U.S. and U.K., which are the biggest contributors to the NATO force in Afghanistan, want the UN to take a stronger role in coordinating the military and aid effort in the South Asian country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week chose Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide as his new top envoy to Afghanistan to lead that endeavor.

Suicide attacks in Afghanistan have risen sevenfold over the past two years, according to the United Nations. A bombing in the capital, Kabul, killed at least five Afghan civilians today, the Associated Press reported, citing the Interior Ministry.

The top U.S. intelligence official, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, said last month the Taliban control about 10 percent of the country.

New Mandate

The Security Council, which must approve Eide's appointment, yesterday debated his role and is scheduled to vote on a new mandate for the UN's political mission in Afghanistan on March 20.

In his latest report on Afghanistan, Ban called for a common approach to integrate ``security, governance, rule of law, human rights and social and economic development.''

He is scheduled to attend an international meeting on Afghanistan in Bucharest, Romania, early next month. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, representatives of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union and World Bank are also scheduled to attend. NATO's force of 41,000 soldiers in Afghanistan is responsible for fighting insurgents and rebuilding infrastructure shattered by almost three decades of conflict.

The bulk of the fighting is done by British, American, Dutch and Canadian troops in Taliban strongholds in the southern provinces. The U.K. and U.S. are pushing for other countries to drop restrictions on where their soldiers can be deployed.



Romania Report & sources