US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be sketching out Washington's new strategic outlook and its ideas on missile defence at a meeting with NATO colleagues in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Rumsfeld has been tasked by President George W. Bush to carry out a thorough reform of US defense policy in response to new security challeges in the 21st century.
Bush himself makes his transatlantic debut at a get-together next Wednesday in Brussels with other NATO heads of state and government, before he goes to Gothenburg, Sweden for an EU-US summit the following day.
Rumsfeld's recommendations are due to be presented later this year, but first indications are that he will suggest that US defense policy focus on more Asia and less on Europe.
"He's expected to inform the allies about the ongoing US strategy and defense review and US nuclear posture," a NATO official said. "We expect some insights into his thinking on deterrance policy."
Though it will be his first NATO defense ministers' meeting, Rumsfeld -- a US Navy pilot in the 1950s -- is no stranger to the 19-nation alliance, having been Washington's ambassador to NATO headquarters in 1973-74.
On missile defense, Rumsfeld is expected to spell out "more details" on what Secretary of State Colin Powell told fellow NATO foreign ministers in Budapest last week, the NATO official said.
Powell's pitch for a sophisticated shield to guard the West against missiles from so-called "rogue states" got a predictably lukewarm reception from skeptical colleagues in Budapest.
But they welcomed Bush's committment to pursue consultations with them and other concerned states, particularly Russia whose defense minister Sergei Ivanov will be joining his NATO counterparts on Friday.
Rumsfeld, a vigorous advocate of missile defense, told a European audience in February that the United States would press ahead with its plans no matter what anybody else thinks.
Though Rumsfeld favors a drawdown of US troops in the Balkans, the NATO official -- speaking on condition of anonymity -- said the defense ministers could approve a "small reduction" for the SFOR peacekeeping force in Bosnia.
No changes in numbers are anticipated for its Kosovo counterpart KFOR, which is also lead by the alliance.
Several NATO sources have said that SFOR, which currently numbers 22,000 troops from some 30 mostly European countries, could be reduced by about 10 percent.
There is also pressure for less combat troops in SFOR and more paramilitary forces -- such as Italian carabinieri or French gendarmes -- that are better trained and equipped to deal with civil unrest.
On NATO's relationship with the European Union's emerging defense capability, the NATO official did not expect any breakthrough on Turkish concerns about EU access to NATO planning capabilities and other assets.
Turkey wants guarantees that it will not be shunted aside if the EU deploys its 60,000-strong rapid reaction force in a hotspot close to its borders or interests -- BRUSSELS (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
