Members of the Defence and Security Committee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly addressed key issues of Alliance defence policy during their annual fall meeting held in Ottawa, Canada, on 6-7 October 2001. The September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States provided a launching pad for key speakers and the discussion at large. The beginning of the American riposte against Afghanistan on the meeting's second day further framed the debate on the Committee's reports.

The meeting began with a presentation by Mr Joel Hefley (US) that outlined the United States' reaction to the September 11 attacks. Mr Hefley thanked his colleagues for their support and emphasized the need for all freedom-loving nations to work together to bring to account those responsible for the attacks and to dismantle the apparatus of mass terrorism.

Mr Jean-Michel Boucheron (France) expressed his opinion that Osama bin Laden's true goal was to force moderate Muslim regimes to fall, and he felt the Alliance must make the Muslim world understand this. Lord (David) Clark (UK) pointed out the different nature of the current war, demonstrated by the fact that no individual country could have caused the damage of the international act of terror committed on September 11. He also asserted that the Alliance must eradicate not only terrorism, but the causes of terrorism, by waging a war against poverty and similar international problems. Mr Hefley added that the fight was not only against bin Laden but against all forms of terrorism. He emphasized that, unlike in the past, the US could not handle the current terrorist problem on its own.

Mr Tahir Köse (Turkey) welcomed both the September 12 NATO declaration to invoke Article 5 and the UN Security Council Resolution 1373. He encouraged his colleagues to avoid "artificial distinctions between terrorist organizations" and desired that the fight against terrorism be included in the Allies' strategic concept as a threat against NATO. Ms Rachel Squire (UK) recommended closer consideration of the drug trade and the illegal transfer of chemical and biological weapons. She also advocated greater intelligence-sharing and closer co-operation with Russia. Finally, she voiced her opinion that the use of ground forces in Afghanistan was likely to fail and would take months or even years. Mr Hefley acknowledged that Afghanistan was a tough environment and that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was a problem that must be addressed.

While expressing his support for the United States' response to the attacks, Sen. Lorenzo Forcieri (Italy) advocated solving the conflict in the Middle East and providing a greater role for international organizations in the region. Mr Gary Titley (European Parliament) expressed his fear of a revolution in Pakistan; he wondered how keen President Bush's administration was to prevent this. Mr Hans Røsjorde (Norway) commented that terrorism has many faces and that the Alliance must prepare for new and unexpected threats. Mr Alejandro Muñoz-Alonso (Spain) stressed that terrorism was comprised of different manifestations of the same phenomenon and should, therefore, be dealt with co-operatively.

Mr Hefley welcomed the "wide spectrum of agreement" and compared it to the unity amongst Americans. He agreed that the war against terrorism would be different, and he added that a great deal of military and political action would occur behind the scenes. He said that the administration did not want to destabilize Pakistan and was planning an approach that would avoid creating another '"Taliban situation" in the region.

Mr Pierre Lellouche (France) compared bin Laden to Hitler, as someone who did not negotiate, and he feared that the next terrorist attack would be bigger and could involve chemical warfare. He advocated the adoption of legislative measures to combat terrorism in order to prepare European populations for military action against terrorism. Mr Sever Mesca (Romania) and Mr. Victor Ozerov (Russia) voiced their support for the fight against terrorism. Mr. Vitaliy Sevastiyanov (Russia) suggested that NATO initiate the passage of a UN charter on fighting terrorism. Mrs Rasa Jukneviciene (Lithuania) argued that the terrorists' main goal was to provoke a war of civilisations; she pressed the Alliance to avoid such a war.

Mr Frank Cook (UK) emphasized that the war against terrorism would involve political, diplomatic and economic action such as acknowledging the suffering of the Palestinians or giving aid instead of placing sanctions. Mr Karsten Voigt (Germany), former President of the Assembly, stressed that the US and Europe needed to avoid misunderstandings between each other. Mr Hefley responded by thanking Russia for its "quick and positive" response to the attacks. He commented that countries that have supported terrorists in the past, even the US, can no longer do so. He agreed that the upcoming war needs to be fought on all fronts, including humanitarian aid, and he pointed out that the US was currently the greatest contributor of aid to Afghanistan.

General Raymond Henault, Chief of the Canadian Defence Staff, gave a presentation on Canada's security concerns, its commitment to NATO and its assistance to the US after the events of September 11. He also detailed the state of the Canadian armed forces and his own objectives for greater efficiency and modernisation.

Mr Titley asked General Henault for some general facts about Canadian forces, such as the size of the army and the system for recruitment. He also wanted more information about the strength of intelligence co-ordination between Canada and the US. He went on to suggest that members of the Alliance were too concerned with high-tech equipment when they should be dealing with asymmetric warfare. Ms Squire asked the General to comment on the problem of over-stretch, especially with regard to peace-keeping operations, and she wondered where the most money was being spent. General Henault answered that the Canadian forces were comprised of 60,000 regular force members and 30,000 reservists; he said there was no system of conscription. He also expressed his opinion that money should be spent on personnel and equipment.