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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020924/1/333jn.html Agence France-Presse Tuesday September 24, 10:37 PM NATO allies welcome US response force plan -Washington's NATO allies welcomed a US plan for a new rapid reaction force, as the transatlantic alliance seeks to arm itself for a leading role in the war against terror and weapons of mass destruction. "It was generally well accepted or welcomed," a NATO official said Tuesday, after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pressed his 18 NATO allies to create a 21,000-strong standing NATO "response force" to deal swiftly with crises outside its traditional area of operation, a plan inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. -The NATO official said NATO military commanders were now expected to go to the drawing board with a view to presenting a plan to NATO's landmark Prague summit in November, when the alliance looks at how to transform itself. -Officials said the force would be expected to spring into action at short notice, and be capable of staying in a hostile environment for a long time. Washington's NATO allies welcomed a US plan for a new rapid reaction force, as the transatlantic alliance seeks to arm itself for a leading role in the war against terror and weapons of mass destruction. "It was generally well accepted or welcomed," a NATO official said Tuesday, after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pressed his 18 NATO allies to create a 21,000-strong standing NATO "response force" to deal swiftly with crises outside its traditional area of operation, a plan inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. A Pentagon official said the proposal had received the "overwhelming support" with 12 to 13 of its NATO allies speaking in favour. German Defence Minister Peter Struck, whose country has been at odds with Washington over its plans for a strike on Iraq, said he would study the plan. "We will have a look at it...and examine it in details," he told reporters. The NATO official said NATO military commanders were now expected to go to the drawing board with a view to presenting a plan to NATO's landmark Prague summit in November, when the alliance looks at how to transform itself. Speaking at the opening of a two-day meeting, NATO chief George Robertson underlined the challenge facing the alliance, originally conceived to hold the West's corner during the Cold War. He said it must now transform in order to meet the new challenges unleashed in the world after the September 11 attacks. "As we approach the Prague summit (in November), we need therefore to think very carefully about the role of this alliance in the future, not least in protecting our citizens from criminal terrorists and criminal states, especially where they are armed with weapons designed for massive and indiscriminate destruction" he said. "We must now transform our alliance so that it can play an equally pivotal part in the war against terrorism, and the dangers of the weapons of mass destruction." Officials said the force would be expected to spring into action at short notice, and be capable of staying in a hostile environment for a long time. "It's about making what we have totally efficient and rapidly deployed," the NATO official said. "We are talking about probably forces which can be aggressive fighting troops, which deploy quickly and can be self-sustaining in a combat situation for a period of time," the official said. He said the force was not expected to duplicate, but rather be complement the European Union's own rapid reaction force, which would concentrate on conflict prevention. As Washington attempts to gain greater understanding, if not outright support, from allied governments in its showdown with Iraq, Rumsfeld's aides were set to give allies on Tuesday an intelligence briefing on Iraq's drive to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Earlier on Tuesday the British government alleged in a 55-page report that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was doggedly pursuing the development of weapons of mass destruction, and would do his best to hide them from UN inspectors. In the dossier it said Saddam's "violent and aggressive" regime has continued to produce chemical and biological weapons, and is trying to make a nuclear bomb -- going so far as to find a uranium source in Africa. No decision was expected from the informal talks by the ministers from the 19-member bloc and on the issue of Iraq, few people are expecting NATO to play any kind of leading role in military action against Baghdad. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
