NATO to extend its reach for war on terrorism
( 2001-12-19 11:14 ) (7 )

NATO said on Tuesday it would reorganise its armed forces to take on missions far beyond its own territory and prepare them for the new war on global terrorism.

The 19-nation defence alliance has been kept on the sidelines of the US-led war on terrorism, with Washington calling on individual allies for limited help in its military campaign in Afghanistan.

But Secretary-General George Robertson called on NATO defence ministers to face up to the cost of revamping their organisation, created during the Cold War to fight major land battles in Europe, in order to meet new threats.

He said the European and North American allies would gear for operations well beyond their backyard.

"In reviewing our defence plans we agreed to increase the proportion of forces that can be deployed and sustained in operations far beyond alliance territory," he told a news conference.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned NATO ministers that in the "tumultuous decades ahead" London, Paris, Berlin and other cities could be hit by unpredictable strikes such as those that killed more than 3,000 people in the United States on September 11.

Global Response to Global Threat

"The only way to deal with a terrorist network that is global is to go after it where it is," he told a news conference after the meeting.

"The only alternative choice is to sit there and take the blows one after another. And given the increasing power of weapons and reach of weapons today that would be foolhardy and dangerous and self-defeating. So I think the definition of what is in or out of area has really been changed..."

Fresh from a visit to Afghanistan, he briefed allies on the campaign against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which has been blamed for the September 11 attacks.

But talks on a post-war peacekeeping force in Afghanistan were confined to the corridors of NATO's Brussels headquarters.

Britain is willing to lead the force of 3,000 to 5,000 troops, of which at least the lead elements are expected to be in place in Kabul by Saturday. Diplomats said 13 of the 19 NATO countries had signalled a willingness to make a contribution.

"The big jigsaw is gradually being put together," one said.

Asked whether the United States might need a new resolution from the UN Security Council to strike suspected "terrorist" targets outside Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said: "Nothing is needed by way of additional authorisation. Every country has the right to self-defence."