Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 58

The rise of violent extremism and the recent terrorist attacks show we are dealing with a qualitatively new challenge. —NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg without a doctrinal CT mission, it is likely NATO SOF will formally, or informally, be supplanted by a member state’s national SOF CT units in the event of a large-scale terror crisis, a much less effective approach to dealing with a collective problem. Consequently, in light of the he Islamic State (IS) has expanded into the rapid expansion of IS and the increasing threat of terrorrealm of international terrorism, with the ism in Europe, it is time for NATO SOF to establish CT downing of a Russian airliner over the Sinai as a principal mission. in October 2015, suicide bombings in Turkey in 2015 NATO’s website makes it clear that NATO SOF are and 2016, and attacks in Paris in November 2015.1 ready to deploy to Asia, Africa, or the Middle East, but Consequently, North Atlantic Treaty Organization it also acknowledges that its SOF may be required to (NATO) member states, overwhelmed by the magoperate in Europe as it adapts to new threats.7 Although nitude of a foreign-directed threat, France chose not to invoke Article 5 in could invoke Article 5 of the 1949 the latest terrorist event, it is not inconNorth Atlantic Treaty for collective ceivable that one or more member states defense in Europe.2 Article 5 states that possess less robust SOF capability that the signatories “agree that an than France could be overwhelmed by armed attack against one or more of a large-scale terrorist attack similar to them in Europe or North America 9/11 or, more likely, a series of complex shall be considered an attack against attacks similar to the attacks in Mumbai 3 them all.” This principle of collective and Paris.8 Many of the NATO signatodefense recognizes that terrorism is a ries that joined after the fall of the Soviet threat to the NATO alliance. Union simply do not have the organic caIn the weeks that followed the pability to deal with foreign-directed and 2015 attacks in Paris, there was sigwell-resourced terror networks operating (Image courtesy of NATO Special nificant discussion of whether France in or between European countries. Any Operations Headquarters) 4 would invoke Article 5. France chose member state with underdeveloped law not to. In fact, the al-Qaida attack against the United enforcement CT or SOF CT capabilities is more likely to States on 11 September 2001 is the only case of an allied invoke Article 5, thus obliging allied nations to take “such nation invoking Article 5 in an effort “to restore and actions, as it deems necessary” intended to “restore and 5 maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.” In maintain security.”9 Therefore, NATO SOF should be the less than twenty-four hours following 9/11, the NATO NATO element capable of providing CT support to these alliance determined that the United States was the obyounger member states. ject of an armed attack and that the attack had been forOn 29 September 2015, Hungary’s prime minister eign directed. Subsequently, NATO assisted the United warned that mass migration from countries such as States with seven NATO airborne warning and control Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Libya risked destabilizsystem aircraft, conducting more than 360 sorties in ing Europe.10 Germany alone expected to receive eight U.S. airspace as well as supporting maritime operations hundred thousand to one million refugees by the end 6 in the Mediterranean. of 2015. Some of these are believed to have traveled on fake Syrian passports.11 At least one of the Paris attackNeed for NATO Special ers from November 2015 was found to have traveled Operations Forces on such a passport, and Frontex (the European Union’s Notwithstanding a clear and demonstrated crossborder agency) has reported that a number of individborder terrorist threat to NATO as a whole, whether uals have requested refugee status based on false Syrian through a failure of politics or a rejection of reality, citizenship.12 The Danish General Intelligence and counterterrorism (CT) is not yet a principal mission Security Service reported that in the first decade of the of NATO special operations forces (SOF). As a result, twenty-first century, terrorist groups such as al-Qaida are T 56 July-August 2016  MILITARY REVIEW