Paris, 28 October 2002: Summing up an assessment of the visit by the Assembly’s Defence Committee to Washington, its Chairman, Dieter Schloten (Germany, Socialist Group), says that “the US is listening to its European allies and partners and is seeking with them the best way of handling current security issues”.

“All the contacts with whom we spoke welcomed Europe’s resolve to enhance capabilities and increase responsibilities for the purpose of furthering security and stability. However, there seems to be a misunderstanding that Europeans would be willing to engage solely in low-intensity military operations and peacekeeping missions and we need to rectify this”, he explains.

US representatives repeatedly assured the delegation members that the proposed NATO Response Force would be complementary to the European Headline Goal and in no way duplicate European efforts to field crisis management forces.

The fight against international terrorism and the international community’s policy towards Iraq were the main topics of political discussions at the Pentagon and the State Department. “For the US Administration there is a link between the fight against terrorism and the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction because, since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the margin for what constitutes an acceptable risk has narrowed significantly”, Schloten says. “We understand that position. Terrorism is a threat to our common values and that is why we are working with the US to combat it. The issue of weapons of mass destruction, however, should be dealt with in the UN Security Council, whose authority must not be challenged”.

Committee members welcomed the fact that the US Administration is working on a long-term strategy on international terrorism. They also noted growing US impatience with Middle East regional leaders because of their inability to find political solutions to the peace process. Members welcomed the new US initiative to come up with a detailed road map and clear timetable for the Middle East peace process.

The Committee also visited the Coalition Coordination Centre at Tampa, where delegation members individually met their national military representatives among the 43 national delegations present at CENTCOM (US Central Command) and involved in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan. “The spirit of cooperation and engagement that reigns among the participating nations is a valuable asset that will continue to make OEF successful. The US is aware of that and is extremely keen to keep the coalition together”, Schloten says.

General Delong, CENTCOM Vice-Commander, told the parliamentarians that military operations in Afghanistan would be continuing, as al-Q’aida and Taliban groups were still putting up resistance.

Any operation against Iraq would be separate from OEF, the General explained. “We expect a different coalition composition for a different mission and therefore it will be entirely separate from the operations in Afghanistan”, he said. The military had not been ordered to get ready for military action against Iraq, parliamentarians were told. However, Iraq had for a long time been the focus of military preparations and if the orders were given, it would be likely that the central command structure of that operation would be in the region.