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Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Syria ‘no-fly zone’ not being considered: NATO general

Syria ‘no-fly zone’ not being considered: NATO general
New head of Nato's LANDCOM John Nicholson says emphasis is changing to a
more expeditionary style force
Asharq Al-Awsat Wednesday, 26 Nov, 2014
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/11/article55338920

Izmir, Reuters—NATO is not considering establishing a “no-fly zone” in
northern Syria, something Turkey has been calling for to alleviate security
and humanitarian pressures on its southeastern borders, one of the alliance’s
top generals has told Reuters.

Turkey has NATO’s second largest military and is host for Land Command
(LANDCOM), which is charged with improving the effectiveness and response
time of the alliance’s land forces.

Although Turkey has made no formal request to NATO for help in establishing
a no-fly zone, it has repeatedly said that willing nations should put one in
place to create safe areas in Syria, allowing some of an estimated 1.6
million Syrian refugees to be repatriated.

“A no-fly zone is a resource intensive undertaking,” Lt. Gen. John
Nicholson, the new head of LANDCOM, told Reuters in an interview at his
headquarters in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir.

The recent example of Libya emphasized how much work was required for NATO
to run air operations, according to Nicholson.

“But that’s not something we’re looking at right now in this context,” he
said.

Ankara’s plans for establishing so-called “safe zones”, with air defense as
a key component, have so far received a cool reception from allies. Military
experts point out it would necessitate either agreement from the Syrian
government or taking out Damascus’ advanced air defense systems.

Such a move would risk dragging western powers further into Syria’s
three-year-old war, and enrage President Bashar Al-Assad’s allies, Russia
and Iran.

Complicating matters, Assad is using US air strikes as cover for his own air
campaign against Syrian rebels, hitting the Islamic State stronghold of
Raqqa in retaliation for the group’s killing of Syrian soldiers.

Disagreement over a no-fly zone is part of wider divisions between Turkey
and its western allies over how to tackle the instability sweeping the
Middle East.

Turkey wants its enemy Assad removed from power, and believes focusing on
the radical Sunni Islamic State group is treating the symptoms rather than
the disease, namely lawlessness and brutality inside the power vacuum of
today’s Syria.

A recent visit to Turkey by US Vice President Joe Biden saw both sides keen
to highlight their points of agreement, but there was little sign of any
major policy shifts.

Disquiet over the direction of US policy in Syria is being seen as a key
factor in the abrupt departure this week of the US Defense Secretary Chuck
Hagel, who had apparently become increasingly frustrated with a lack of
strategy.

Despite widespread criticism, including from Ankara, that the current plan
of air strikes and support for opposition groups falls far short of what is
required, there is little appetite in western capitals for a more direct
role in the Syrian conflict.

NATO is monitoring events in the Middle East, but is making no plans to play
an active role there, Nicholson said.

“I’m confident having fought in a counter-insurgency (in Afghanistan) for
years and studying this threat to the south that NATO would be more than
capable of handling it . . .(But) we only make plans at the request of our
member states and that’s not something we’re working on right now.”

Nicholson says the focus of the alliance is on adapting to the end of its
active military role in Afghanistan next month.

One of the longest combat commitments in recent military history, the Afghan
war honed NATO’s skills in tackling counter-insurgencies.

Now, the emphasis is changing to a more expeditionary style force, able to
deploy quickly to tackle potential threats, including along NATO’s eastern
border with Russia, Nicholson said.

“You may not know where you’re going to fight or when you’re going to fight.
Therefore you need to focus on your readiness, being ready to fight sooner
rather than later. Days rather than weeks,” said Nicholson, who took over
his post a month ago.

A key component will be the establishment of a Very High Readiness Joint
Taskforce (VJTF), details of which are expected in the coming weeks,
according to Nicholson.

Work is also underway to adapt NATO to tackle so-called “hybrid warfare”, a
label attached to recent Russian tactics in Ukraine, seen as a combination
of aggression, propaganda, provocation and stirring up local actors.

NATO is also planning some of its most extensive exercises since the end of
the Cold War, focused on honing the alliance’s ability to defend its
borders.

Speeding up NATO’s response time and developing specialist knowledge to
tackle specific threats — anything from cyber warfare to high end air
defense—will be key to the alliance remaining the most capable in the world,
Nicholson believes.


Asharq Al-Awsat

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