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005746
MDHIAN 3965
SITUATIONS MIGHT ARISE ON WHICH A CONSENSUS VIEW WAS REACHED WITHIN NATO THAT A PURELY EUROPEAN RESPONSE WAS MORE APPROPRIATE FOR EXAMPLE IN THE CASE OF HUMANITARIAN AID IN A NATURAL DISASTER.
IN A CRISIS ARISING ELSEWHERE WHERE EUROPES INTERESTS WERE ENGAGED, IT WOULD BE OPEN TO THE WEU COUNCIL TO DETERMINE UPON A EUROPEAN RESPONSE IN ITS OWN RIGHT. THIS SHOULD BE PRIOR CONSULTATION WITHIN NATO BOTH BECAUSE THIS WOULD MAKE PRUDENT COMMON-SENSE AND TO ESTABLISH THAT ANY FORCES TO BE USED WERE NOT SIMULTANEOUSLY REQUIRED FOR NATO ASSIGNMENTS.
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IT IS RIGHT TO SET OUT THESE MECHANISMS FOR DECISION-MAKING AND CONSULTATION CLEARLY. EVEN OUTSIDE EUROPE, ACTION BY EUROPEAN STATES IN A GIVEN SITUATION IS LIKELY MORE OFTEN THAN NOT TO BE IN CONCERT WITH A RESPONSE BY THE UNITED STATES BECAUSE THE IDENTITY OF INTERESTS BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE USA IN DEFENCE AND SECURITY MATTERS IS SO STRONG. THE GULF CONFLICT BEARS THIS OUT. SO ONE SHOULD BEWARE OF EMPHASISING SEPARATENESS FOR ITS OWN SAKE. RATHER, I STRESS AGAIN THE POTENTIAL PRIZE OF A MORE EFFECTIVE WESTERN EUROPEAN RESPONSE IN ANY FUTURE CRISIS ALONGSIDE THE UNITED STATES AND
OTHER ALLIES.
LET ME SAY SOMETHING IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT HOW A WEU FORCE MIGHT BE
ASSEMBLED ON THE BASIS I HAVE DESCRIBED. I STRESS THAT I AM SPEAKING ILLUSTRATIVELY HERE, ON SUBJECTS ABOUT WHICH WE ARE CONSULTING CLOSELY WITH OUR ALLIES.
FIRST, ANY WEU SPONSORED OPERATION, WHETHER HUMANITARIAN, PEACEKEEPING OR MILITARY INTERVENTION, WOULD REQUIRE A STATIC JOINT HEADQUARTERS (JHQ) FOR COMMAND AND CONTROL. WE BELIEVE THAT THE WEU SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUCH HEADQUARTERS OFFERED BY A VARIETY OF NATIONS AS BEING AVAILABLE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF A SPECIFIC SITUATION. FOR EXAMPLE, WE IN THE UK HAVE 2 LOCATIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY PROVED THEMSELVES IN WAR AND COULD BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR ANY FORESEEABLE WEU TASK. AT NORTHWOOD OUR JOINT MARITIME/LAND HQ MASTER-MINDED THE FALKLANDS CONFLICT, WHILST THE UK CONTRIBUTION TO THE RECENT GULF WAR WAS COMMANDED FROM OUR OTHER JOINT HQ AT HIGH WYCOMBE. BOTH JHQS HAVE EXTENSIVE COMMAND, CONTROL, COMMUNICATIONS AND INTELLIGENCE FACILITIES AND STAND READY TO SUPPORT ANY WEU OPERATION. OUR MOBILE JOINT FORCES HEADQUARTERS, WHICH DEPLOYS FORWARD FOR IN-THEATRE COMMAND AND CONTROL, AS WELL-PROVEN IN BOTH THE FALKLANDS AND THE GULF CONFLICTS AND COULD ALSO BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE WEU IF DESIRED - SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT WOULD BE BOTH EFFICIENT AND ECONOMIC AVOIDING THE UNNECESSARY COST AND DUPLICATION
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