From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: White Man's Burden: Afghan Occupation Army All Euro-NATO HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2002014961,00.html The Times WEDNESDAY JANUARY 09 2002 Britain picks 'Euro-army' for Afghanistan BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR AND MARTIN FLETCHER IN BRUSSELS THE Government was accused yesterday of drafting a de facto Euro-army to Afghanistan after only one non-European country was chosen to join the 14-nation peacekeeping force. Canada, which had been set to contribute 1,000 troops to the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), has been excluded, as have Muslim countries such as Jordan and Malaysia. New Zealand, which is sending a 30-strong team, is the only contributor from beyond the Continent. The force?s make-up has been decided by Britain because it has a British commander: Major-General John McColl ? and Bernard Jenkin, the Shadow Defence Secretary, said that it was an embryo Euro-army in all but name. ?Multinational military operations are always complex, but this is much more so than necessary because some countries, including the UK, are pursuing a private agenda,? he said. ?Why has Britain turned down help from Canada, which is one of our longest-serving allies?? Louis Michel, the Belgian Foreign Minister, caused uproar at the European Union summit at Laeken last month when he said that the proposed force was a triumph for European unity. Javier Solana, the EU?s foreign policy chief, said that it would be ?basically an EU force led by one country of the EU?. The idea was slapped down by Jack Straw, who said: ?There?s no question of the EU having a defence force, still less being able to deploy one it doesn?t have in Afghanistan.? Downing Street also dismissed the idea, insisting that the peacekeepers would be a United Nations-mandated international force with some EU members. Tony Blair told MPs before Christmas that it would include European forces ?and others? and he said nations in talks with the MoD included Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Czech Republic, Jordan, Malaysia, Turkey and the US. However, the countries contributing troops under General McColl?s three-month leadership are: Britain (1,500), France (500), Germany (300), Italy (300), The Netherlands (150), Turkey (50), Belgium (50), Portugal (20), Austria (30-40), Finland (30-40), Sweden (30-40), Romania (20), Norway (30), Greece (30) and New Zealand (30). The exclusion of the Canadians has caused deep resentment. They had put a light infantry battalion on 48-hour standby in November and British defence officials made clear that Canada was expected to be one of the first Isaf contingents to be deployed to Afghanistan. Now Canada has withdrawn its offer to join Isaf and accepted an American invitation to send the 1,000 soldiers to join its campaign in Kandahar. Art Eggleton, the Canadian Defence Minister, told The Toronto Sun that the British seemed anxious to give first choice to European countries. ?European politics became part of the decision-making process,? he said. One of the initial aims was to involve Muslim countries, with Jordan, Malaysia and Indonesia all mentioned. But the Malaysian High Commission in London said that its offer of a ?token? force had not been taken up. A Jordanian Embassy spokeswoman expected to contribute a field hospital, but British defence sources said Jordan was not on the list. Turkey is the only Muslim country involved at present and is expected to take command of Isaf in three months? time. The Belgian Foreign Ministry said that the composition of the force vindicated M Michel: ?It?s clear that this is to a large extent a European enterprise and shows the ambition among European countries to act abroad and at a military level together.? There had been a general agreement among the EU heads of government that the force should be presented as ?something European?. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
