NATO defense ministers convened in Brussels on Wednesday to hear what the United States hopes they can do in the protracted war that is in the works to confront terrorism.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was to urge colleagues to supply Washington with more intelligence about terrorist networks -- but not necessarily to provide troops or warplanes for any US counterstrikes.
Wednesday's huddle at NATO headquarters came two weeks and a day after suspected Islamic extremists hijacked three US airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, leaving 6,800 dead or missing.
"These barbaric acts are an intolerable assault on humanity and the values we all share," said NATO Secretary General George Robertson as he opened the day-long meeting.
"They are an affront to everything this alliance stands for, and they are a direct threat to international peace and security," Lord Robertson said.
The first objective of Wednesday's meeting, he said, would be "to strengthen further our cohesion, cooperation and solidarity."
Besides the fight against terrorism, the defense ministers were to review NATO peacekeeping operations in the Balkans and meet with their Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov.
Just a day after the September 11 attacks, the 19 allies unanimously invoked their "all for one, one for all" treaty commitment to collective security -- a first in NATO's 52-year history.
But the so-called Article 5 action won't kick in before the Bush administration officially asserts that it considers the attacks to have originated from abroad -- something that Wolfowitz might do Wednesday.
Eleven of the NATO allies also belong to the European Union, whose leaders last Friday gave their full support to "targeted" US military retaliation, so long as allies are consulted.
Word out of Washington suggests the United States will act with selective strikes on suspected terrorist lairs, notably in Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden -- the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks -- has been a longtime "guest" of the fundamentalist Taliban regime.
Speaking Tuesday in the US capital, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld played down expectations of a full-scale military assault on Afghanistan, a move that might only add to Central Asia's chronic instability.
"It is by it's very nature something that cannot be dealt with by some sort of massive attack or invasion," Rumsfeld said, referring to terrorism. "It is a much more subtle, nuanced, difficult, shadowy set of problems."
Wednesday's meeting had been scheduled many months ago for the southern Italian city of Naples, with Rumsfeld taking part.
But plans were changed in the aftermath of the New York and Washington attacks, with the venue switching to NATO headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels, and Rumsfeld dispatching Wolfowitz in his place.
Besides addressing the other defense ministers, Wolfowitz was also to have one-on-one talks with Ivanov, Britain's Geoffrey Hoon and France's Alain Richard, diplomatic sources said -- BRUSSELS (AFP)
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