NATO defense ministers were to meet in Germany yesterday to discuss the future of the transatlantic military alliance, notably boosting its presence in Afghanistan and defining the role it could play in Iraq.
Diplomatic sources have said the focus of the informal meeting, held around a working lunch, will be to ensure a successful mission in Afghanistan, probably by deploying more troops to regions outside the capital.
"We cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan," NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Thursday after meeting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
Iraq's security, and NATO's part in it, will also be broached at the meeting, which comes ahead of a weekend security conference here, as well as the damage caused to transatlantic ties by the US-led war there.
A year after the war began, the fact that no weapons of mass destruction have been found and inquiries have been launched into intelligence findings in the US and Britain could foster more conflict.
With the US military badly stretched and elections approaching, the talks may provide US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with an opportunity to mend fences, as Washington needs help as it prepares to return sovereignty to the Iraqis.
Rumsfeld expressed hope here Thursday that NATO will assume a larger role in Iraq but said the alliance's priority now should be its expanded peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
"I think NATO's ... first task is to do well the Afghan task," Rumsfeld told reporters on the flight from Washington. "The next step might be for them to take on a somewhat larger role in Afghanistan."
"With respect to Iraq, they have stepped forward and been working with the Polish and Spanish multinational division, and we would hope they would they would continue to take a still larger role," he said.
Rumsfeld antagonized some western European allies last year by referring to them as "Old Europe" and arguing that NATO's center of gravity was shifting to the new members from former Soviet bloc countries.
"I would say the relationships right now are very normal," he said.
Afghanistan was NATO's first mission outside Europe. It took command last August of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was set up in December 2001 after the defeat of the hardline Taliban regime.
The Alliance wants to extend ISAF's operations beyond the capital, Kabul, and press reports suggest it could double the number of troops present and create up to 18 civilian reconstruction teams, up from around 10 currently planned.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime