-Caveat Lector- EU To Create Defense Policy By ROBERT WIELAARD .c The Associated Press BREMEN, Germany (AP) -- European Union defense ministers pledged Monday to work toward a common security policy by December 2000, acknowledging they had a long way to go. German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping admitted it was a ``tight timetable'' given the persistent shortcomings of Europeans in defense matters. Scharping said the Europeans lacked sufficient airlift capability to move troops, hardware and humanitarian supplies, their satellite capabilities paled compared to those of the United States, and they have no joint command and control system. After chairing a meeting of European defense ministers, however, Scharping said setting a December 2000 deadline to fix all that was meant to push EU leaders, who will debate the issue in more detail at a summit next month in Cologne. ``The defense ministers meeting was a ... starting shot for the concrete development of a common security and defense policy in Europe,'' he told a news conference. The issue of how Europeans can develop a common security policy has been under study for years, without much to show for it. Officials have been unwilling to make the investments needed for a significant European defense identity. What is under study is a sharper European defense profile within NATO. Initially, this meant giving the Europeans the ability to mount military actions using NATO facilities and hardware without the United States. But over the years, the debate has gone more in the direction of turning the Western European Union -- the EU's embryonic defense arm -- into a crisis prevention and peacekeeping organization, not an outfit that would go into combat without the Americans. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
