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Rumsfeld in Germany to Meet With Allies
edited big time for brevityDefense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived here on Thursday, looking to mend fences with European allies, strengthen NATOâs role in rebuilding Afghanistan and explore a broader mission for the alliance in stabilizing Iraq. In a speech to an annual international security conference on Saturday, Mr. Rumsfeld is expected to build on Vice President Dick Cheneyâs call to allies last month in Switzerland to move beyond differences over the Iraq war and redouble common efforts to combat terrorism and the spread of illicit weapons. Embarking on a three-nation European trip, Mr. Rumsfeld dismissed the views of some senior European officials that the trans-Atlantic alliance needed major repairs, and chalked up any nagging problems to the normal vagaries of diplomatic relations. "Since the Eisenhower administration the NATO relationship has gone from little difficulties to things better" Mr. Rumsfeld, a former United States ambassador to NATO, told reporters traveling with him. "I would say the relationships right now are fairly normal." Mr. Rumsfeld will meet informally on Friday with fellow NATO defense ministers, who are certain to question him about the prewar intelligence the Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Mr. Rumsfeld defended the intelligence on Iraqâs illegal weapons programs and said it was still possible that inspectors would find hidden arms. The defense ministers will focus on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The administration and some NATO members have been pressing for the alliance to take charge of the international force patrolling south-central Iraq, which is now under Polish command and receiving logistical support from NATO. Mr. Rumsfeld expressed hope that the alliance would "take a still larger role." Until recently France and Germany, two important NATO members that opposed the war, refused to consider sending troops to Iraq. But with the American-led occupation expected to turn over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, the two allies have signaled a possible change of heart that could open the door to a NATO deployment. Eventual NATO involvement in incremental steps is wise imho Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is to visit Washington this month, has said that Germany will seriously consider the United States request to reduce what Iraq owes it and that his country will not block any NATO decision to send peacekeeping forces to Iraq. Stabilizing Iraq may be a long-term issue for the alliance, but Mr. Rumsfeld said NATO must first address more immediate problems in Afghanistan. "NATOâs role, its first task really, is to do well the Afghan task," he said. "Itâs a significant thing theyâve undertaken." Last month NATOâs top military commander, Gen. James L. Jones of the United States Marine Corps, complained that alliance members were not providing enough troops to fulfill NATOâs plan to expand its reconstruction efforts beyond the capital, Kabul, and the northern area of Kunduz. NATO assumed command of a 5,500-member security force in Kabul in August and later won United Nations authorization to expand its mission beyond the capital. NATO forces under German command took on security duties in Kunduz last month in the first part of a project to field up to five new provincial reconstruction teams. Posted by: Jarhead 2004-02-06 |
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