 By Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, USN Commander, U.S. Pacific Command |
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I would like to take advantage of my foreword to this issue of the Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM to share my view of a particular transnational threat and response in the Asia-Pacific region. FORUM’s cover story about the important new exercise PACIFIC PROTECTOR highlights two points. First, the potential proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a new transnational threat in the Asia-Pacific region. Second, a cooperative response – the Proliferation Security Initiative – is growing to confront this threat.
Transnational threats such as terrorism, proliferation, and illicit activities like drugs and human trafficking are clearly concerns confronting every country in the region. Although terrorism concerns in the Pacific tend to focus on Southeast Asia and the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group, no nation is really immune. This issue’s Pacific Armies Management Seminar story shows that terrorism was an important subject examined at that conference. Terrorist incidents, plots, or related activities have occurred in a number of Asian countries, ranging from the Philippines to China. But proliferation takes on a heightened dimension when associated with terrorist groups – a threat more unmanageable in the hands of non-state actors The Proliferation Security Initiative is a multinational program intended to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). WMD include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and their delivery systems, such as missiles. PACIFIC PROTECTOR is the first exercise designed to support this initiative. In the Asia-Pacific region, proliferation became a reality in 2002 when a disguised North Korean vessel surprised the world by delivering medium range ballistic missiles to Yemen. Greater proliferation threats may be just over the horizon. North Korea’s highly enriched uranium program, along with its plutonium-reprocessing program, raises the specter of nuclear weapons as part of a proliferation-for-profit strategy. The possibility of proliferation of nuclear materials to terrorist groups constitutes perhaps our biggest contemporary fear – one that threatens all nations. Transnational threats, by their very nature, demand multinational responses, as we have seen in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last two years. The Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, and Australia, for examples, provided generous assistance. The ROK provided sealift, airlift, and field hospital support for operations in Afghanistan. More recently, the ROK announced deployment of about 3,000 Korean forces to join the 500 support personnel already involved in Iraq’s stability operations. Australia provided highly trained troops for operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Japan provided airlift services and over 87 million gallons of fuel to coalition ships in the Arabian Sea to support operations in Afghanistan. More significantly, Japan Self-Defense Forces and support personnel are now assisting in the reconstruction of Iraq. Nations in our region are leading the way for participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative. As documented in this issue of the Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM, both Japan and Australia joined the United States and France in playing leading roles in the first PACFIC PROTECTOR exercise. Australia hosted the three-day exercise near the coast of Queensland and contributed a frigate, a customs vessel, and a Coastwatch surveillance aircraft while Japan exercised their Coast Guard as well. Future exercises will build upon this experience, and President George Bush urged the international community to increase its support for the Proliferation Security Initiative in a speech on 11 February 2004. The evolving multinational response by our allies and friends – as demonstrated in PACIFIC PROTECTOR – leaves me optimistic that we will confront shared transnational security concerns together successfully, thereby assuring the continued tranquility and security of the Asia-Pacific region.
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