Yorkshire CND - U.S. and NATO Split Over Missile Defense

30 May 2001
U.S. and NATO Split Over Missile Defense
Powell Stresses 'Common Threat,' But Allies Doubt Risk of an Attack
by William Drozdiak, Washington Post Service, The International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId21389

BUDAPEST The United States clashed Tuesday with several European countries over whether NATO faced a serious risk of a missile attack by so-called rogue states, reflecting deep misgivings in allied capitals over the Bush administration's plans to press ahead with a missile defense system.

Secretary of State Colin Powell sought unsuccessfully to persuade his European counterparts meeting in Budapest that the alliance as a whole, and not just the United States, must take urgent measures to cope with a common threat" posed by intercontinental ballistic missiles being developed by potential enemies such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

But European allies, notably France and Germany, rejected his appeal that their countries should embrace the same security risk assessment as made by the United States. They claimed that raising the threat level was unreasonable because they did not feel endangered nor did they deem it wise to provoke a potential confrontation by declaring that they were.

The conflict emerged over the phrasing of a document setting forth alliance defense priorities at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers - the first ever held in a former Warsaw Pact nation. While the dispute might appear trivial, it demonstrated the wide gap that now separates the United States from much of the alliance over Washington's perceived need for missile defense shield.

Early this month, the United States dispatched a team of envoys to Europe and Asia in a concerted bid to persuade friendly nations to cooperate, or at least show sympathy, for its missile defense plans. But instead of lending support, allied governments have grown even more antagonistic toward the idea since it was first broached in the waning days of the Clinton administration.

Since President George W. Bush assumed office insisting that a vast anti-missile umbrella was needed so it could protect allied countries as well as the United States, European governments have stepped up criticism of what they see as an expensive and unrealistic project that may trigger a global arms race by goading nations to develop new arsenals that can overwhelm such defenses.

They loathe the idea of scrapping the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed in 1972 by the United States and the Soviet Union to restrict the development of national missile defenses.

Washington claims that the treaty has become obsolete and no longer corresponds to post-Cold War security threats, but many European governments still refer to it as "the cornerstone of strategic stability."

Until the meeting Tuesday, that term was enshrined in the twice-annual policymaking reviews of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But at General Powell's insistence, the ABM language was dropped from the alliance communiqué - a gesture that European diplomats said was retribution for their refusal to endorse the "common threat" language sought by Washington in the passage on missile defense. Since NATO works by unanimous consensus, any member can exercise a veto.

In order to satisfy everybody, NATO approved consultations that "will include appropriate assessment of threats and address the full range of strategic issues affecting our common security, and the means to address them, including deterrence and offensive and defensive means, and
enhancing the effectiveness of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation, as well as diplomatic and counter-proliferation measures."

General Powell acknowledged that "it may take some time" to convince the allies to accept the administration's approach in dealing with a new strategic environment, but he expressed confidence that they would become converts once they understood the true nature of emerging threats and the technological potential to cope with them.

"I did not take a poll of everyone in the room today, but I think I can safely say there is recognition of some sort of threat out there and that it would be irresponsible for the United States not to do something about it," General Powell told reporters.

"Some people see it as more immediate. Some see it as greater than perhaps others. But I don't think there's any question but that there's some sort of threat out there," the general said.

Protests Greet NATO Meeting

Hundreds of demonstrators protested against the NATO foreign ministers' meeting Tuesday, urging Hungary to leave the alliance, The Associated Press reported from Budapest.

"We want to show that not everyone agrees with what is going on at the NATO meeting," said Krisztina Szabados, a protest leader from a group called the Humanist Movement.

The group, which stressed a message of peace and love, wants Hungary leave NATO - even though the country only joined the alliance two years ago.

There was a strong police presence at the Southern Railway Station, the authorized venue of the demonstration.

It was not comparable, however, to the state of siege at the conference itself one and a half kilometers (a mile) away, where riot police and dogs patrolled the grounds.

Members of various civil organizations also hung a banner from a bridge over the Danube River that read "Death Star," a reference to NATO's symbolic star. Riot officers ran onto the bridge, arrested several people and hauled in the banner.

Turkey Near Accord on Assets

Turkey signaled on Tuesday that it had struck a deal "in principle" with its NATO allies to allow a future European Union force to use NATO planning capabilities and assets, Reuters reported from Budapest.

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem told Turkish reporters that elements of a deal had been reached, ending months of Turkish opposition to the EU having automatic access to NATO assets for EU operations outside the military alliance.

"It's not a definitive accord, but there is an agreement in principle," Mr. Cem said. "All our demands have been met in a general fashion and all the gray areas have been removed."

Ankara had refused to give its go-ahead to lending NATO assets to the EU's proposed Rapid Reaction Force, which the bloc wants to be ready for peacekeeping missions by 2003.