NATO chiefs in secret WMD exercise

What I am wondering, since this is being conducted under such tight wraps, is how much of a role will the Total Information Awareness system have?

Is that why this is being held under wraps? Are they field testing the system along with the field exercises???


NATO defense chiefs took part in an unusual secret exercise in Colorado yesterday to test the alliance's military responses in a fictional fast-moving crisis involving terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, officials said.

Held under tight security at Schriever Air Force Base, the exercise was devised to stimulate discussion among alliance defense ministers on a soon-to-be-fielded NATO Response Force capable of intervening in crises far beyond Europe, the officials said.

"The NATO leaders will consider the capabilities needed to confront the threat of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

The scenario for the exercise, which was devised by the meeting's US hosts, was set in a fictional country in 2007, not coincidentally the year after the new NATO force is scheduled to be fully operational, he said.

www.theaustralian.news.com.au...

Found more here

NATO defense chiefs took part in an unusual secret exercise in Colorado yesterday to test the alliance's military responses in a fictional fast-moving crisis involving terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, officials said.

Held under tight security at Schriever Air Force Base, the exercise was devised to stimulate discussion among alliance defense ministers on a soon-to-be-fielded NATO Response Force capable of intervening in crises far beyond Europe, the officials said.

"The NATO leaders will consider the capabilities needed to confront the threat of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

The scenario for the exercise, which was devised by the meeting's US hosts, was set in a fictional country in 2007, not coincidentally the year after the new NATO force is scheduled to be fully operational, he said.

Other details of the scenario remained classified. To encourage an open discussion among the ministers and their chiefs of defense the session was not recorded, according to US sources.

A ceremony formally establishing the unit is to be held October 15 in Brunssum, Netherland, and it is to have an initial capability by next year.

France, which is not a member of NATO's military command structure, nonetheless will be one of the major contributors of ground troops to the force.