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US NATO Allies Feel Slighted By MATT KELLEY -Several senators on the panel said political leaders from NATO countries are grumbling that they felt slighted by what they see as their junior role in the global war on terrorism. -Both Feith and Grossman said coordination with NATO and other terror war allies has improved greatly, citing the liaison officers from allied countries stationed at the Tampa, Fla., headquarters of the war's commander, Gen. Tommy Franks. Nine of the 19 NATO countries have troops participating in Afghanistan, another five countries have sent forces to aid the effort and all but three NATO countries offered military forces, Grossman said. Associated Press Writer May 1, 2002, 7:44 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- America's NATO allies were justified in feeling slighted during the opening weeks of the war on terrorism, but coordination has improved since then, Bush administration officials said Wednesday. The United States was slow to accept offers of assistance from NATO countries and did not show enough gratitude at first when the alliance invoked its collective defense provisions after the Sept. 11 attacks, said Marc Grossman, undersecretary for political affairs in the State Department. "It took some time to get some traction," Grossman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He added that America initially "blew off a little bit" NATO's contribution of AWACS surveillance airplanes to help patrol U.S. airspace. Several senators on the panel said political leaders from NATO countries are grumbling that they felt slighted by what they see as their junior role in the global war on terrorism. "We have conveyed the strong impression that in future conflicts, the U.S. will do the war fighting," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. "And the Europeans will be expected to clean up after the parade." Pentagon policy chief Douglas Feith said the United States was slow to respond to NATO offers of help because officials were so busy putting together a war plan. The campaign in Afghanistan began Oct. 7, less than a month after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. "I cannot say that it went exactly smoothly and well from Day One, because nothing in the government went extremely brilliantly and well in the days after Sept. 11," Feith said. Both Feith and Grossman said coordination with NATO and other terror war allies has improved greatly, citing the liaison officers from allied countries stationed at the Tampa, Fla., headquarters of the war's commander, Gen. Tommy Franks. Nine of the 19 NATO countries have troops participating in Afghanistan, another five countries have sent forces to aid the effort and all but three NATO countries offered military forces, Grossman said. Alliance members plan to meet in Prague in November to discuss transforming the alliance and adding new members. One of the United States' priorities in advance of that meeting is to persuade NATO members to increase their military spending, Feith and Grossman said. The only way to close the "capabilities gap" between U.S. and other NATO militaries is to spend more money on the problem, the Bush administration officials said. The two officials said the United States wants to see as many countries as possible be invited to join NATO at the November meeting. Most NATO countries are beginning to share the view "that we ought to be as big as possible," Grossman said. The alliance is considering offering membership to 10 countries, including the former Soviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The other candidates are Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Albania. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
