The Pentagon's foreign legion
01 November 2002
NATO's November summit in Prague decided on the creation of multi-national rapid deployment force of about 20,000 troops that would allow NATO to operate quickly and effectively against new "enemies" outside Europe. The intention is to construct a part of NATO that can be useful for the United States in its global war against the new terrorism and the "axis of evil". The decision followed one earlier this spring that was much more circumspect. Without attracting any publicity the North Atlantic Council (the foreign ministers of NATO) in Reykjavik negotiated a new agreement ending years of debate over wether NATO should operate "out of area", meaning outside of Europe. The ministers agreed that "Nato must be able to field forces that can move quickly to wherever they are needed" so the alliance can "more effectively respond collectively to any threat of aggression against a member state." The new NATO Response Force (NRF) will do exactly that.
An anonymous West European ambassador to NATO remarked about the spring decision: "It was done by stealth, but everyone was conscious of its significance. No one wanted it to become a controversial matter at home." An initial operational capability for the NRF is to be ready no later then October 2004. Full operational capability will be reached no later than October 2006. The troops would be dedicated to a new NATO command, and would remain on call for rotations of six months, when they might be called into action on very short notice, and be able to sustain themselves in the field for a month. The force must be capable of making 200 combat air sorties a day and make use of advanced precision guided weapons.
At the Prague summit agreements were also signed on three major military equipment initiatives. A German-led initiative to lease 10 to 15 oversized transport aircraft - either Boeing C-17s or Antonov An-124 strategic airlifters was supported by ten other countries. This is to bridge the gap until 2008 when the European-built Airbus Military A400M is expected to enter service. Shortly after the summit the German government decided finally to order 60 of those aircraft. This is believed to be just enough to hold the unit price on the earlier agreed amount of Euro 85 million a piece. Spain is leading a plan for purchasing 48 tanker aircraft for inflight refuelling by 2005. Eight other countries have joined this initiative. An initiative led by Norway and Denmark and supported by seven other countries will provide NATO in the short term with sealift capacity.
The creation of this small, but heavily armed rapid intervention force, is of a highly symbolic value. International Herald Tribune commentator William Pfaff remarked that it would probably be employed "operationally detached from NATO as neither the White House nor the Pentagon imagines submitting US strategy to the consensus views of the permanent North Atlantic Council." He concluded that the new strike force "would look very much like a self-financing foreign legion for the Pentagon." The NRF might very well undercut the EU plans to build up a rapid-reaction force. There also could develop a kind of division of labour with NATO meeting the need of the USA for allies in new high intensity wars and the EU force - for the immediate future - mainly policing its borders like in the Balkans.
Defense News 7-13.10.02 (Martin A Aguera); Washington Post 5.11.02 (Robert G. Kaiser and Keith B. Richburg); International Herald Tribune 7.11.02 (William Pfaff); Jane's Defence Weekly 13 and 27.11.02 (Luke Hill), December 11.12.02 (Ian Kemp); Guardian November 22.11.02 (Ian Black); Financial Times December 2.12.02