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:http://www.canada.com/hamilton/story.asp?id={4747BD9C-F2F3-4B04-B089-D720662D40A7} [Including but not limited to the seven nations targeted by Washington's Nuclear Posture Review preemptive nuclear attack policy - including Russia and China - and four nations not possessing nuclear weapons; the seven officially designated states supporting terrorism; the three 'Axis of Evil' nations; the sixty-two countries identified last autumn as ones that must either root out terrorism or have it done for them by the US and its military allies; those economically sanctioned and politically threatened for allegedly conducting trade relations with Baghdad - Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, the Bosnian Serb Republic - and any number of other targeted countries like Venezuela, Malaysia, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Namibia, Turmenistan, Lebanon. You're either with us....] NATO prepares military overhaul to 'root out and destroy' terrorist threats PAUL AMES Canadian Press Tuesday, September 24, 2002 -"NATO played a key role in defeating the threats of the Cold War," said Secretary General George Robertson. "We must now transform our alliance so that it can play an equally pivotal part in the war against terrorism and the dangers of weapons of mass destruction." As part of that transformation, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was to present plans for a rapid response force of about 20,000 U.S., European and Canadian troops capable of mobilizing for combat within a week to 30 days. Officials said the new force could comprise elite ground troops, AWACS radar planes, shared allied intelligence, naval units and chemical-biological defences. -Last year's terrorist attacks in the United States forced NATO to review its military policy, accelerating plans to move away from the traditional Cold War stance of territorial defence by developing faster, more flexible forces able to operate far from their home bases. -European allies have reversed years of defence cuts and a NATO summit scheduled for November in the Czech capital, Prague, is expected to adopt firm targets for the acquisition of new weaponry to plug holes in the NATO armoury - including precision-guided missiles, heavy lift planes and defences against poison gas or germ warfare attacks. � WARSAW (AP) - NATO must quickly refocus its military muscle so it can "root out and destroy" threats from terrorists or renegade states, the head of the alliance told defence ministers Tuesday at the start of talks to overhaul the 53-year-old alliance. "NATO played a key role in defeating the threats of the Cold War," said Secretary General George Robertson. "We must now transform our alliance so that it can play an equally pivotal part in the war against terrorism and the dangers of weapons of mass destruction." As part of that transformation, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was to present plans for a rapid response force of about 20,000 U.S., European and Canadian troops capable of mobilizing for combat within a week to 30 days. Officials said the new force could comprise elite ground troops, AWACS radar planes, shared allied intelligence, naval units and chemical-biological defences. Overshadowing the two-day NATO meeting was the crisis over Iraq and tensions within the alliance over how to neutralize any threat posed by Saddam Hussein. Many allies are uneasy about a U.S.-led attack on Iraq and Germany has expressed outright opposition, prompting an acrimonious exchange between Washington and Berlin. Rumsfeld on Monday said the tone of the election campaign that returned Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to power Sunday had the effect of poisoning relations. NATO is not expected to play a direct role in any military action against Iraq, and U.S. officials stressed it was too early to sound out individual allies for contributions to any coalition force. German Defence Minister Peter Struck is expected to attempt to repair ties with the Americans at the meeting. One thing that might help is an offer from Germany to take a leading role in the International Security Assistance Force in the Afghan capital Kabul when Turkey's mandate runs out at the end of the year. The United States is anxious for its European allies to take on such roles as part of a larger effort to relieve its own load. America spends 85 per cent more on defence than the other 18 allies combined. Struck told Germany's Neue Ruhr/Rhein Zeitung newspaper he was having talks with his Dutch counterpart for a possible joint-command of the Kabul force. Last year's terrorist attacks in the United States forced NATO to review its military policy, accelerating plans to move away from the traditional Cold War stance of territorial defence by developing faster, more flexible forces able to operate far from their home bases. Opening the meeting, Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski acknowledged the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, had highlighted NATO "weaknesses and shortcomings" and shown the need for urgent reform. In response to those shortcomings, several European allies have reversed years of defence cuts and a NATO summit scheduled for November in the Czech capital, Prague, is expected to adopt firm targets for the acquisition of new weaponry to plug holes in the NATO armoury - including precision-guided missiles, heavy lift planes and defences against poison gas or germ warfare attacks. Besides upgrading military hardware, the ministers were discussing streamlining NATO's command structure to introduce greater speed and flexibility against new dangers. "Our common aim must be to maintain the will and the capabilities to deter these 21st-century threats where possible (and) to root them out and destroy them where deterrence has broken down," Robertson said. However, many NATO allies have doubts about switching to an aggressive "first strike" doctrine against potential foes like that outlined by U.S. President George W. Bush last week. The two-day meeting in the Polish capital is the first by NATO defence ministers in one of the three former Warsaw Pact nations that joined the alliance in 1999 - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The November summit is expected to invite up to seven other former-communist nations to join the alliance. __________________________________________________ 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 ==^================================================================
