Rumsfeld Makes Case for Terror War

Tuesday November 19, 2002 2:20 PM

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told fellow military chiefs Tuesday that the threats of the 21st century ``transcend geography and respect no borders,'' making cooperation among nations even more necessary than before.

Chilean President Ricardo Lagos opened Tuesday's summit of Western Hemisphere military chiefs by saying that while terrorism is a global threat, nations on this side of the world should agree to face it together.

``Terrorism has changed, because there are now gangs that lack territory of their own, but that operate in a global manner,'' Lagos said.

Addressing the summit's opening session, Rumsfeld cited terrorism, drug and arms trafficking, organized crime, piracy, money laundering, hostage taking and cyber crime as top concerns.

``These threats must be countered with new capabilities,'' Rumsfeld said.

The 5th Conference of Defense Ministers from the Americas was gathering for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Rumsfeld, who was to leave immediately after his speech for Prague, the Czech Republic's capital, to attend a NATO summit, said the Atlantic alliance was not made irrelevant by the end of Cold Ward.

``The same is true of the institutions of the inter-American system. Today, the need for our nations to work together has not diminished; instead, it has grown, as has the need for the institutions that facilitate hemispheric cooperation.

``In this hemisphere, narco-terrorists, hostage takers and arms smugglers operate in ungoverned areas, using them to destabilize democratic governments,'' Rumsfeld said. ``Elected governments have the responsibility to exercise sovereign authority, conferred at the ballot box, throughout their national territory.''

The threats posed by terrorism and drug trafficking appeared at the center of the ministers' agenda.

``We have to review the security concepts we have been applying and discuss the changes required,'' Chilean Defense Minister Michelle Bachelet said Monday at a news conference with Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld described terrorism and drug trafficking as ``a global threat.''

``There are new threats and new capabilities that represent potential dangers to free countries, given the nexus between terrorist states with weapons of mass destruction and terrorist networks,'' he said.

He denied reports that the Bush administration was pressuring Latin American countries to support its anti-terrorism policies.

Bachelet said she and Rumsfeld agreed ``that our task is to guarantee a region that can continue to live in peace.''

A small group demonstrated peacefully on Monday in front of the Defense Ministry building, holding signs reading ``United States, the big terrorist'' and ``War made in U.S.''

In a letter to Lagos, the leader of Chile's small Communist Party, Gladys Marin, called the summit ``part of the policies of aggression and war developed by George Bush.''