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NATO's conventional military capability vis-à-vis the Warsaw Fact".
Tt expresses particular and grave concern about the effect of our
reductions on the Northern and Southern Flanks.
6. In effect NATO is urging us to reconsider the resource decision
which we took at the end of last year and which formed the firm
basis for our consultations with our Allies.
Our reactions to NATO's response
7. From the outset of the consultations we made clear to our
Allies that the Government's decision about the level of resources
we planned to allocate to defence over the Review period was firm;
only variations within this level were negotiable. It is this
decision, rather than the priorities we have followed in making
our NATO reductions, that has so upset our Allies. We knew that
this would be their reaction, but they have produced no reasons for
our varying the painful decision we took earlier. I consider that
there is no question but that, consistently with the Government's
economic strategy, we should stick to that decision.
Short of our reviewing our decision on resources, NATO is also
recommending that we should, as a minimum, review those aspects of
our proposals which have the most damaging effects on the overall
Allied defence posture, in order to:-
(a)
maintain a UK maritime and air presence in the
Southern region;
(b)
raise the forecast level of UK capabilities in
the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and mine counter-
measures (MCM) fields in the ACLANT/ACCHAN areas;
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