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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/international/europe/22ROMA.html?ex=1033768001&ei=1&en=acd1799e7a463172 New York Times September 22, 2002 Romanians Join American Patrols in Afghanistan By JAMES BROOKE -We want to demonstrate that Romania can be considered a security provider," said Brig. Gen. Ion Palsoiu, commander of the Second Brigade, who flew here in part to explain his country's purpose to a tiny band of reporters. "Romania has experience in international operations, such as Somalia, Angola, Albania, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan." -Romania's army is embarking on a five-year program to shift much of its equipment to NATO-standard equipment, General Palsoiu said. The C-130 that stood parked off the tarmac here today, was one of four surplus cargo planes that the United States gave to Romania in 1996 as part of an American military aid and training program that has recently averaged about $10 million a year. -"You can count the number of Romanian officers who have studied in the United States in the hundreds, if not in the thousands." ANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 16 � Planted in the sand, a hand-painted sign on the airport base near here welcomes visitors to the desert home of the "Red Scorpions," 400 infantry soldiers from Romania. Romanians? They have come, they say, to patrol the perimeter, eat at American mess tents and generally share the heat and dust with 5,000 American troops. But, beyond this patch of desert, Romania has a bigger goal in mind. Two months from now, leaders of the 19 member states of NATO are to converge on Prague for the alliance's first summit meeting in the former Soviet bloc, and the first since the Sept. 11 attacks of last year helped rewrite America's security strategy. Romania � rejected for NATO membership in the first expansion in 1999 that took in the Poles, Czechs and Hungarians � aims to be chosen this time, and hopes that the presence of its troops here can help prove that it is ready to play its part in the changing world. "We want to demonstrate that Romania can be considered a security provider," said Brig. Gen. Ion Palsoiu, commander of the Second Brigade, who flew here in part to explain his country's purpose to a tiny band of reporters. "Romania has experience in international operations, such as Somalia, Angola, Albania, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan." The Romanians are engaged in the intense round of politicking leading up to the Nov. 21-22 Prague meeting. Invitations to join NATO seem certain to go out to Slovenia and the three Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Question marks hang over three other candidates: Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Vaclav Havel, the Czech president and the host of the November gathering, supports admitting all seven former communist nations. Last spring, at a NATO meeting in Bucharest, the United States deputy secretary of state, Richard L. Armitage, praised Romania and Bulgaria for helping in the Afghanistan campaign. But President Bush has yet to tip his hand. To warm up the United States, Romania has signed a bilateral accord with Washington to exempt Americans from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court. On the ground here, the Romanians, who replaced a Canadian contingent in July, are reaping the rewards of a decade of military cooperation and training with the United States. "Of my men here, four officers and 24 noncommissioned officers have studied in the United States," said Maj. Nicolae Ciuca, commander of the Red Scorpion detachment. The Romanians often go out on joint patrols composed of a United States Army armored Humvee and three of Romania's Warsaw Pact-issue BTR armored personnel carriers. Romania's army is embarking on a five-year program to shift much of its equipment to NATO-standard equipment, General Palsoiu said. The C-130 that stood parked off the tarmac here today, was one of four surplus cargo planes that the United States gave to Romania in 1996 as part of an American military aid and training program that has recently averaged about $10 million a year. "You can count the number of Romanian officers who have studied in the United States in the hundreds, if not in the thousands," said Maj. Ira Queen of the United States Army, who flew here with the Romanian general. The chief of a three-member American military office in Romania's Defense Ministry, Major Queen said that Britain, Germany and Italy had similar military cooperation units with Romania. Asked about the historical weight of military ties with the Soviet Union, Major Ciuca noted that his country had stood aside when the rest of the Warsaw Pact answered the Soviet call to invade Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring. "Our country did not send troops to Prague in 1968. After 1968, we did not send any more officers to the U.S.S.R. for training." As an indication of the changing time, Major Queen said, when his flight from Bucharest stopped in Turkmenistan to refuel, "we had a hard time finding anyone on board who spoke Russian." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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