Ex-NATO top brass urge security "directorate"

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Five former Western military chiefs are urging the 32 members of NATO and the European Union to team up in a single security "directorate" to deal with the terrorism threat and security challenges from China and Iran.

In a report to be presented in Brussels on Wednesday, they argue that neither NATO, the EU, or any individual state can handle new security threats alone, but that developing new security institutions would take too long.

"A cursory glance at our international organizations leads us to ask whether we have a proper basis for coordinated action. Unfortunately, it would appear that we do not," they conclude.

"We propose, as a first step towards a new and wider transatlantic bargain, the establishment of a U.S., EU, NATO steering directorate at the highest political level," they said in the report to be presented at the German Marshall Fund thinktank.

The five authors are former NATO Military Committee chief Klaus Naumann, former UK chief of defense staff Peter Inge, ex-chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff John Shalikashvili, French ex-chief of defense staff Jacques Lanxade and Dutch ex-chief of defense staff Henk van den Breemen.

The proposal comes before April's NATO summit when Western leaders will review alliance efforts to forge a post-Cold War role, something that has often provoked tensions with the EU and other players.

The authors did not detail how such a directorate would function. The "double-vote" granted to the United States -- on the forum as itself and as a NATO member -- "would encourage the U.S. to become more involved in the international debate", they said.

"WEAKENED BY DISUNITY"

The report notes that most EU nations have only limited military firepower while NATO is short on civilian know-how. The United Nations' military power is hamstrung by "insurmountable political disunities and executive incapacity", it adds.

"There is a great mismatch between the interconnected list of dangers and the international and national capabilities to respond to them -- capabilities that are weakened by their disunity," it said.

New threats range from terrorism to the risk that conflicts are triggered as states jostle for scarce energy resources.

"China is in a position to use the 'finance weapon' for geopolitical leverage in Africa, and is gaining the capability to use it more widely -- if it chooses to do so," it warned.

The authors further cited the risk of Iran's growing influence in its region, particularly if it acquired the atom bomb -- a goal Tehran denies having.

"An Iranian nuclear weapon could mean the end of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and thus transform the regional conflict into a global crisis," it said.

The authors played down the threat posed by Russia, noting a mismatch between the aggressive statements of President Vladimir Putin and its armed might, estimating that barely 20 percent of Russian military equipment could be called modern.