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CNN Live Event/Special

America Strikes Back: NATO Says New Threat Requires New Response

Aired October 09, 2001 - 05:28   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: NATO is throwing its support behind the U.S. war on terrorism, but the alliance also says that more than missiles are going to be necessary for the campaign to be successful.

Joining us from Brussels now is NATO Deputy Spokesman Mark Laity, and we thank you very much for your time, Mr. Laity.

I want to, first of all, begin with the idea that what is being requested right now by the U.S. of NATO is more political support versus actual military support. But I know there have got to be talks right now under way between Lord Robertson and President Bush about changing that.

What is the latest on that?

MARK LAITY, NATO SPECIAL ADVISER: Well, what we've got is we have been asked to do specific things by the United States, and every single request they have made of us, we have met.

And, yes, you are right. It is political support, but that is important. But there's also this huge thing of an Article V commitment. We have declared that what happened to the United States amounts to an attack on all 19 nations, because that's what Article V commitment means: "An attack on one is an attack on all." And I think you've seen the response that follows.

And there have been some very important political responses, and also important concrete responses. We have got five airborne radar planes, the AWACs, on their way to the United States within the next few days to guard your skies, because that will release American AWACs planes to go to the zone of conflict.

And that's something that we were asked to do by the United States. It's something we're very pleased to do, and we're also very proud that NATO is going to be guarding your skies. And I think it's not just -- that is not just a practical thing, but it's an enormous symbolic commitment.

And we've also been asked to send ships to the eastern Mediterranean to demonstrate our resolve and commitment, and we're doing that as well. We've been asked to provide extra security in your bases. We're doing that as well. We've been asked to supply -- to enable you to use our ports and our airports. We're doing that as well. We've been asked to supply intelligence information to you. We're doing that as well.

So there's a whole raft of things that we're doing, and it's all part of the fact that this alliance is all for one and one for all.

HARRIS: And it's quite a range of requests that you just tallied for us this morning. But one thing that was not on that was the idea of some front-line support.

Has that been discussed at all?

LAITY: It's not being discussed, because it has not been asked, and I think that's the key thing. The United States has not raised this issue. It has done it on a bilateral basis. The United States has asked the United Kingdom to help, and the U.K. is helping. The French and the Germans, they will also be providing practical assistance. The Canadians will also be providing assistance. Non- NATO nations, like Australia, will also be helping. The Italians and the Spanish have said if they were requested to help, they would.

So I think what you're seeing is that the United States has made the decision that it wishes to take this action on its own -- its military action on its own requesting bilateral assistance that it wants, and it puts a very high priority on political support from NATO and it has got that, plus these other specific requests. And I think that's what the pattern is. It goes to its NATO allies one on one, and they are responding.

HARRIS: Well, considering the fact that there is no real end- game in mind right now, no one knows for sure exactly how long this so-called war is going to go on. And that this political support that NATO is going to be required to actually offer may have to go on for some time.

Is NATO actually right now, as it is constituted currently, prepared for a long-term PR or political support role?

LAITY: Yes. Absolutely. It has been one of the constant features is that from the time that this dreadful barbaric attack happened that the war against terrorism was not going to be a 100-hour war like in the Gulf or an 80, 90-day war as in Kosovo, but something that could stretch on for years.

We're in this for the long haul. America was the target of the terrorism, but every one of us was a victim of it. And all 19 nations have agreed that what happened to the World Trade Center, what happened in Pittsburgh, what happened to the Pentagon was an attack on us all. And to respond to it is going to require a long-term, sustained commitment on many, many layers.

So I think that NATO is in this for the long haul, just as the U.S. is. We are not fair-weather friends to the United States. They've got a long haul ahead of them, and we're going to be with them every inch of the way.

HARRIS: Well, finally, Mr. Laity, this morning, NATO has not a fair-weather friend here, but a new friend in Russia. We understand there's lots of talk now about coordination with Russia on this war against terrorism.

Can you give us any idea about how significant any Russian participation is going to be, versus rather just symbolic? Is it going to be significant, or is it going to be just symbolic?

LAITY: Well, I think it's already significant in the sense that they have given practical cooperation to the United States. And also the discussions we had last week with the Russians have indicated whole new areas of cooperation.

People keep saying that this is a new kind of war, and sometimes we've got to think what does that really mean? And what that means is that the old boundaries are over. The old disputes are largely redundant. We've got a new kind of threat, and that requires a new kind of response.

The Russians and other countries -- we're not going to agree with them on everything. Countries very rarely do. But we can agree with them on some fundamentals, and one of them is that terrorism knows no boundaries and it has to be fought by every country in its own way.

So we are allies, absolutely, against terrorism. And the other differences that we have pale into insignificance when you consider the threat of terrorism.

HARRIS: NATO Deputy Spokesman Mark Laity -- we thank you very much for your time and for your patience this morning. We understand we did keep you past the time you need to leave. We thank you very much for that -- take care.

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