U.S. attacks draw NATO, Russia together -Robertson
ROME, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The attacks on the United States have pushed
NATO
and Russia closer together giving them a common enemy that they did not
previously share, the secretary-general of NATO said in an interview
published on Tuesday.
"Two weeks ago no one would have imagined that world security would have
changed in such a dramatic fashion," George Robertson told Rome's la
Repubblica newspaper.
"Today we have a side-effect: NATO and Russia have moved much closer
together
than appearances might suggest," he added.
The United States has accused Afghanistan's Taliban regime of harbouring
the
mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and Russia announced on
Monday
that it would arm anti-Taliban opposition.
It also offered its airspace to humanitarian aid flights if the U.S.
launched
retaliatory strikes against targets in Afghanistan.
Robertson said Moscow would not feel threatened by the possible use of
former-Soviet Union states as bases for U.S. and NATO forces for any
eventual
attack on Afghanistan.
"..Today the West and Russia have a common cause that they didn't have
two
weeks ago. They know very well that we don't intend to expand into
central
Asia...this is a shared struggle to identify and eradicate the roots of
terrorism," he said.
"As we all know, some of those roots are in Afghanistan."
Roberston compared the impending "war on terrorism" to the enlightened
world's fight against slavery in the 18th century.
"This will be a military conflict, but not just that," Robertson said.
"I make the comparison with the fight against slavery in the 18th
century.
Then it was also difficult to know who the enemy was and it also
involved a
complex web of economic interests.
"A large coalition of states was created to fight against the slave
traders,
and they used military means -- in that case navies -- but not just
that, and
in the end the slave trade was eradicated," Robertson said.
"Again today, we need to put a coalition into action and transform our
sense
of disbelief and anger into positive action," he added.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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