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By LUKE HILL, JDW NATO/EU Affairs Correspondent, Brussels Deputy US Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, during an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on 26 September, stopped short of providing proof that the terror attacks on New York and Washington constituted an attack from abroad. He instead focused on developing a multi-dimensional response to which allies and non-allies can contribute. Some allies had anticipated a ‘white paper’ that would provide evidence that the attacks were planned and orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network from abroad, which would allow NATO to invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty which states that an attack against one member will be considered an attack against them all. Such a possibility had been raised earlier by US Secretary of State Colin Powell. However Wolfowitz was not ready to provide such evidence, and offered few details of the investigations into the attacks or possible military responses. He did suggest various levels of participation that NATO allies could follow, including the provision of intelligence and political support, the use of airspace and participation in a US-led military response. “If we want collective action, we’ll ask for it,” the deputy defence secretary said following the meeting. A NATO official stressed that while expectations were high before the meeting, which for security reasons was transferred to Brussels from Naples, it probably was not the time to invoke Article 5. “That is essentially a political act and these [at the meeting] are defence ministers,” the official told Jane’s Defence Weekly. “Plus, it would have meant that the ministers would be back here in 24 hours with orders to plan operations. The USA isn’t at that point yet. When they reach it, we could take the decision in the morning and deploy AWACS or other assets that same afternoon.” Wolfowitz used what other diplomats described as a cautious approach – a contrast to a perceived hawkish stance in the immediate aftermath of the attacks when he vowed that the USA would act to “end” regimes that harboured terrorists – stressing that military might would possibly not be the most important element of the campaign. A French official told JDW: “It is as much a question of controlling the finances, investigating terrorist networks, looking at questions of weapons of mass destruction and compelling states that harbour terrorist networks to seize their means of support. Our position is very much in line with that; a long-term view is the right approach.” Wolfowitz, standing in for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the other ministers also met Russian Minister of Defence Sergey Ivanov, who is also the Russian government's co-ordinator for anti-terrorist operations. Co-operation with Russia over the hunt for the 11 September attackers has increased since the visit to Moscow of Richard Armitage from the US Department of Defense on 20 September. A Russian official told JDW that during that meeting the US government pledged to assist Russia in its fight with terrorists in Chechnya. US officials declined to comment on the meeting. Since then, however, the USA and a number of European countries have issued diplomatic statements acknowledging a possible Al-Qaeda-backed terrorist problem in Chechnya, while at the same time reiterating their opposition to human rights abuses by Moscow in the separatist province.
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 .gif){kind=small} I n t e r n a t i o n a l S e c u r i t y S p o n s o r
Intelligence Review Fighting Ships All the World's Aircraft International Defense Review
Inside Al-Qaeda: a window into the world of militant Islam and the Afghani alumni USA yet to offer NATO evidence on attacks Where does US intelligence go from here - and were they really to blame? Onset of winter will provide harsh backdrop for Afghan operations Special fully updated country report on Afghanistan now available Malicious Internet activity increases following 11 September attacks Terror from the sky Overt assistance from Pakistan may bring dire consequences | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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