2-16-3
- WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday accused Austria of
blocking the movement of U.S. troops from Germany by rail through that
neutral country to Italy, apparently part of a buildup of American
forces preparing for possible war against Iraq.
-
- He complained that it would take additional days to
get the troops where they were going and told the Senate Armed Services
Committee it was an example of problems in stationing more than 100,000
U.S. troops in Europe, including 70,000 in Germany.
-
- "Right now, for example, we're trying to move some
forces from Germany down to Italy, and Austria is causing a difficulty
with respect to moving the forces through Austria by rail," Rumsfeld
said.
-
- "Which means we may have to go up to Rotterdam (in the
Netherlands) or possibly by train through two, or three, or four
countries. It's better (to move) directly," he said.
-
- A spokesman at the Austrian Embassy in Washington
confirmed that the movement of U.S. troops was being temporarily blocked
by his country. Austria is a neutral state and restricts the movement of
foreign military equipment across its territory.
-
- Rumsfeld, questioned by reporters after the committee
meeting, refused to say whether the troops in question were part of
contingents of armored and other U.S. forces being sent from Germany
toward the Gulf.
-
- MAJOR CONTROVERSY IN EUROPE
-
- The looming prospects for a possible U.S.-led war with
Iraq have caused sharp political splits in Europe, where NATO members
Germany and France have thrown up barriers at both alliance headquarters
in Brussels and at the United Nations in New York to slow any progress
toward war in Iraq.
-
- "I just heard about it this morning," Rumsfeld told
reporters of the Austria situation. "And they (the U.S. military) have
already developed two work-arounds -- two by rail, one by sea -- all of
which take extra days."
-
- Christoph Meran, press counselor at the Austrian
Embassy in Washington, told Reuters he understood that movement of the
U.S. troops was being at least temporarily blocked because his country
had rules allowing the movement of equipment and troops, but only under
certain circumstances.
-
- "Austria has been asked for some materiel to be moved
down, but it turned out to be troops," Meran said.
-
- Rumsfeld repeated comments by the White House earlier
this week that the United States was closely studying the possible
realignment of American forces around the world, possibly bringing some
home and establishing well-protected military "hubs" through which
troops could be quickly deployed overseas from the United States.
-
- "It's clear: It's better for us probably not to have
such a heavy concentration" of troops in many countries, the secretary
told the committee.
-
- Rumsfeld stressed that any changes in basing of U.S.
troops would only be done "over a reasonable period of time" and in
close consultation with allies.
-
- The open opposition by Germany and France to war with
Iraq, including a move in NATO to halt alliance protection for Turkey in
any such war, has raised anger in the U.S. Congress and sparked demands
from some lawmakers to slash U.S. troop basing in Germany.
-
- But Rumsfeld said the United States would not shift
troops simply to retaliate.
-
- "It would be a mistake to suggest that if we do end up
reducing some of those forces by moving them to other countries that it
had anything to do with our relationships with those countries. Because
it simply doesn't," he
said.
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The Mulindwas
communication group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in
anarchy"
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