Several European Countries Oppose the United States on NATO's Mission in Afghanistan
By Laurent Zecchini
Le Monde
Thursday 15 September 2005
Is the Atlantic Alliance once again engaged in one of those larval crises that recurrently position the United States in opposition to some of its European partners - with France and Germany on the frontlines - with regard to NATO's missions? During an informal meeting of NATO Defense Ministers on Wednesday September 14, besides Paris and Berlin, several countries, notably Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, rose up against Washington's desire to obtain an extension of the mandate for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan - taken over by NATO in August 2003 - to mix it in with that of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now, while the former is a stabilization and peacekeeping force, the latter indulges in war missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
With their troops highly mobilized in Iraq, the Americans have long wanted to disengage from the Afghan theatre in favor of NATO. Their reasons are logistical - inasmuch as the rescue operations committed to since the passage of Hurricane Katrina weigh heavily on the American Army - and political: it's a matter, as in Iraq, of showing that America is not alone in the fight against terrorism. Billeted at the outset in Kabul, the ISAF has little by little extended its mandate to the north and west of Afghanistan and is supposed to deploy in the south from spring of 2006.
In the name of efficiency and coherence of command, the American Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer want the two missions to be melded together with a single command structure. They dash up against the refusal of several allies, in particular France and Germany. "These are two completely different missions, executed under different conditions with different forces," emphasized French Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who nonetheless accepts the principle of "strengthened synergies" between the two forces. Germany is all the more on the same wavelength, given that the electoral period on the other side of the Rhine makes it impossible for the SPD to endorse in any way whatsoever an offensive military role for the some 2000 German soldiers present in Afghanistan. "The ISAF must not be dragged into the fight against terrorism," insisted German Defense Minister Peter Struck. His Spanish counterpart, José Bono Martinez, drove in the nail, deeming that "the two missions must remain separated, with different chains of command." As for the British Defense Minister, John Reid, he spent a great deal of time denying reports that Great Britain opposed the Pentagon's desires.>>>continued
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Le Monde
Thursday 15 September 2005
Is the Atlantic Alliance once again engaged in one of those larval crises that recurrently position the United States in opposition to some of its European partners - with France and Germany on the frontlines - with regard to NATO's missions? During an informal meeting of NATO Defense Ministers on Wednesday September 14, besides Paris and Berlin, several countries, notably Spain, the Netherlands and Turkey, rose up against Washington's desire to obtain an extension of the mandate for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan - taken over by NATO in August 2003 - to mix it in with that of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now, while the former is a stabilization and peacekeeping force, the latter indulges in war missions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
With their troops highly mobilized in Iraq, the Americans have long wanted to disengage from the Afghan theatre in favor of NATO. Their reasons are logistical - inasmuch as the rescue operations committed to since the passage of Hurricane Katrina weigh heavily on the American Army - and political: it's a matter, as in Iraq, of showing that America is not alone in the fight against terrorism. Billeted at the outset in Kabul, the ISAF has little by little extended its mandate to the north and west of Afghanistan and is supposed to deploy in the south from spring of 2006.
In the name of efficiency and coherence of command, the American Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer want the two missions to be melded together with a single command structure. They dash up against the refusal of several allies, in particular France and Germany. "These are two completely different missions, executed under different conditions with different forces," emphasized French Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie, who nonetheless accepts the principle of "strengthened synergies" between the two forces. Germany is all the more on the same wavelength, given that the electoral period on the other side of the Rhine makes it impossible for the SPD to endorse in any way whatsoever an offensive military role for the some 2000 German soldiers present in Afghanistan. "The ISAF must not be dragged into the fight against terrorism," insisted German Defense Minister Peter Struck. His Spanish counterpart, José Bono Martinez, drove in the nail, deeming that "the two missions must remain separated, with different chains of command." As for the British Defense Minister, John Reid, he spent a great deal of time denying reports that Great Britain opposed the Pentagon's desires.>>>continued
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