Wolfowitz: NATO allies need to spend
more money on counterterrorism
By Gregory Piatt,
Belgium bureau
BRUSSELS, Belgium — Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told NATO defense
ministers on Wednesday that the allies need to spend more money on counterterrorism.
Speaking at a one-day alliance defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in
Brussels, Wolfowitz added that the United States might need the specialized troops serving
in the Balkans peacekeeping missions for its war on global terrorism.
"It’s a fact of life that our deployed forces around the world are getting
stretched," Wolfowitz said.
The United States might need troops that specialize in civil affairs, reconnaissance,
intelligence and other areas might be in demand in the fight with terrorism in the future,
Wolfowitz said at a news conference. The allies might be asked to fill with these areas in
the peacekeeping missions, Wolfowitz said he told allies.
However, the United States remains committed to the Balkans peacekeeping missions and
isn’t planning to pull out all its forces serving in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Kosovo, Wolfowitz said. The United States has 8,000 troops serving in both peacekeeping
missions.
But Wolfowitz urged allies to take more responsibility in the Balkans as the United
States leads the counteroffensive on global terrorism after the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon two weeks ago, a NATO official said on the condition of anonymity.
But in the news conference, Wolfowitz said he told the defense ministers that
counterterrorism is the top priority for the alliance and allies must spend money on it.
Wolfowitz also stressed that many allies need to spend more money on defense and to
restructure their armed forces to be able to counter emerging threats and to strengthen
its efforts in the fight to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
"We can’t say we can’t afford what we need to do," Wolfowitz said.
NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said Wolfowitz told defense ministers that
NATO needs the right capabilities to battle terrorism and to transform the alliance from a
Cold War organization into one that handles today’s threats. After the terrorist
attack in the United States, NATO will now accelerate the things that need to be done,
Robertson said.
Robertson said the alliance needs to better its intelligence collecting and its
approach and coordinated efforts to battle terrorism.
Defense ministers gave their "unflinching support to the U.S. and are trying to
define how the alliance will fight global terrorism," Robertson said.
The meeting brought the expectations that Wolfowitz was going to outline evidence that
the terrorist attacks were from Osama bin Laden. Last week, NATO invoked Article 5 of its
charter and any alliance action hinged on the United States proving the attacks came from
abroad. Article 5 says an attack on one member is an attack all.
"We don’t expect our allies to have Wolfowitz present the evidence like a
district attorney," said a Western diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Robertson said Wolfowitz didn’t present evidence but what direction the United
States is taking militarily, economically, politically and diplomatically in its fight
against global terrorism.
In turn, the United States didn’t request any alliance action or the alliance
hasn’t offered anything beyond Article 5.
"The alliance is keeping its options open," Robertson said about the alliance
offer.
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