Nato rejects call to take on major role inside Iraq [View All]

[Wonk]

THE United States, with Donald Rumsfeld, its outspoken Defence Secretary, in the
vanguard, failed yesterday to convince Europeans that Nato should take on a..

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-994750,00.html
(subscription required. I'll see if I can find a better link)

http://news.google.com/news?q=NATO




on edit: more related links, older than the Times article though.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-02/09/content_1304005.htm
Germany not to participate possible NATO mission in Iraq: FM

BERLIN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The German government sticks to its objection to a possible deployment of NATO troops in Iraq, said Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer at the international security conference in Munich on Sunday.

He said Germany is against such a deployment and will not send any troops to Iraq. However, he stressed that Berlin will not blockade any possible NATO deployment.

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http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/breakingnews/view.asp?msgID=4710
US plans for NATO meet resistance in Europe

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Ambitious US plans for NATO to help stabilise the "Greater Middle East" met niggling resistance in Europe over the weekend and highlighted the important strategic differences between them. With transatlantic ties barely recovering after the US-led war on Iraq, the United States urged its NATO allies to mobilise their resources in Afghanistan, play a real role in Iraq and become more involved in the Middle East.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said it was important for NATO to build on its achievements and the change it has helped inspire in eastern Europe. "Our challenge is to think creatively about how we can harness the power of the Alliance and to contribute to similar democratic progress across the Middle East," he told the world's defence community in Munich, southern Germany.

But for the main opponents of the Iraq war, little has changed in the year since it was launched, apart from Washington's need for help as its troops come under daily attack amid calls for a handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis. France placed conditions on its involvement in Afghanistan, Germany said it was sceptical about a NATO mission in Iraq, and Russia railed against the threat to its interests posed by the Alliance's eastward expansion.

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