Former United Kingdom Secretary of Defense Talks About Transatlantic Security Post-Bush

By Kayleigh Harvey - Talk Radio News Service

Former UK Secretary of Defense, Rt. Hon Des Browne, Minister of Parliament (MP), spoke today about "Transatlantic Security Post-Bush," at The Center for American Progress.

In his statement to the audience, Des Browne MP covered a number of issues affecting the transatlantic community.

With regard to his thoughts on how The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) should move forward, Des Browne MP said: "I think there is an agreement across the alliance that it need to transform and by that I mean that it needs to equip itself to operate in environments in which we need to deploy our forces and support them for an extended period of time, in order to provide the security that we need to avoid conflict."

Speaking about the situation in Afghanistan he stated: "I think as far as Afghanistan is concerned what we need to do is recognize that Russia, China, Pakistan, India and Iran to name some, have an interest in the stabilization in Afghanistan, they are already involved and we just need to engage them."

On the subject of how President Obama has been received in the United Kingdom and Europe Browne said: "The big advantage Obama has is that he is already immensely popular in Europe and that includes the United Kingdom...What he needs to do, like all leaders, is he needs to deliver on the promise that he generates and the expectations...Our responsibility is to ensure that the inevitable disappointments and there will be some don't undermine the promise of his election. So we need to support him. That is the point I am making today and that was the point his Vice-President was making in security terms to the countries of Europe."

When questioned about the Iraq war Browne ended by saying: "As far as Iraq is concerned, I think there is now a consensus that we have reached the stage where Iraq's own ability to provide security and governance for their country is such that we can begin drawing down our troops...there seems to be a consensus emerging round about a date about 2011 and I don't think there is any dispute about that any longer."

Browne also expressed a desire for the rest of Europe to seriously consider following the UK example and take prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.

"The closure of Guantanamo Bay generates the immediate consequence, of what does one do with the 200 plus occupants of that part of the island of Cuba?" he concluded.

‘Complementarity’ key to U.S. and Europe military partnership

The Heritage Foundation hosted a panel on “North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) militaries, today and tomorrow: what kind of partners can America expect in Europe?”. Sally McNamara, senior policy analyst of European affairs at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said that there has been an on-going debate about ‘America’s unilateralism’ compared to ‘Europe’s unwillingness to fight the war on terror.’ McNamara expressed that the discussion was not meant to point fingers but to look at Europe’s military capabilities.

Dr. Jackson Janes, executive director of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, said that since 1994 Germany has been overcoming a ‘culture of reticence’ for wanting to use military action. According to Janes, Germany has projected that by 2010, their armed forces will be structured with 350, 000 response forces for high intensity operations, 15,000 forces for NATO rapid response, 70,000 forces for stabilization and 147,000 forces earmarked for comprehensive joint and sustainable support of operations. Janes also said that Germany faces budgetary constraints as only 1.4% of its gross domestic product (GDP) is used for defense, compared to the minimum two percent of GDP that is usually recommended.

Peter Podbielski, senior analyst at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said that NATO transformation has been hindered by factors such as time, money and the absence of a coherent military transformation concept. With regards to military cooperation, Podbielski cited the Polish for being the most capable and enthusiastic military to partner with both the U.S. and NATO. Podbielski also expressed that missile defense could serve as a ‘catalyst for further cooperation’ between NATO and the U.S.

Brigadier Phil Jones, military attache and British defense staff at the British embassy, emphasized that states no longer have to choose between NATO and the European Union (EU). Jones said that 'complementarity' is a concept that everyone is comfortable with and everyone is working to develop usable military capabilities.