Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to close allies who have strategic working relationships with US armed forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While the MNNA status does not automatically include a mutual defense pact with the United States, it does confer a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.
MNNA status was first created in 1989 when section 2350a, otherwise known as the Nunn Amendment, was added to Title 10 (Armed Forces) of the United States Code by Congress. It stipulated that cooperative research and development agreements could be enacted with non-NATO allies by the Secretary of Defense with the concurrence of the Secretary of State. Initial MNNAs were Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, and South Korea.
In 1996 major non-NATO allies received additional military and financial benefits when section 2321k was added to Title 22 (Foreign Relations) of the U.S. Code (also known as section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961), which added MNNAs to many of the same exemptions from the Arms Export Control Act that were enjoyed by NATO members. It also authorized the President to designate a nation as an MNNA thirty days after notifying Congress. When enacted, the statute designated Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, New Zealand, and South Korea as major non-NATO allies. [source: wikipedia]
******************************************
The Telegraph UK
written by Ben Farmer, Kabul
Saturday July 7, 2012
Hillary Clinton has arrived in Afghanistan on a surprise visit and declared the country would join Israel and Pakistan as a 'major non-Nato ally'.
Her announcement that Afghanistan would enter the official ranks of the US's 'major non-Nato allies' was designed to reassure Kabul and its neighbouring states that American would not abandon the country as troops pull out. The Secretary of State stopped in Kabul on her way to an international conference designed to shore up the country's uncertain future.
She will join 70 other delegations on Sunday at a meeting in Tokyo to promise billions of dollars to keep the precarious Afghan administration running after 2014 – when the Nato combat mission ends.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has said his country needs $4 billion of development aid each year for up to a decade.
Nato is already trying to find another $4.1 billion a year to pay for the Afghan police and army for the ten years after they assume full responsibility for fighting the Taliban in 2014.
Mrs Clinton made the announcement as she met Mr Karzai for talks in his palace, saying the move signalled "a powerful commitment to Afghanistan's future."
"We are not even imagining abandoning Afghanistan," she added.
Her announcement follows a strategic partnership agreement signed between Kabul and Washington earlier this year, which paved the way for Afghanistan to receive military and civilian help until at least 2014.
The ally status gives privileges including access to excess American defence supplies, and training.
Afghanistan becomes the 15th country to enter the club. Others include Australia, Egypt, Israel and Japan. Pakistan was the last nation to gain the status, in 2004.
The Nato-led coalition has said it will hand over combat duties to the Afghans by the end of 2014. By then coalition troop numbers are expected to have fallen to as low as 20,000 to 30,000, from a peak in 2011 of more than 130,000.
Many Afghans' greatest fear is that international neglect and the interference of neighbouring countries, particularly Pakistan, will again push the country into civil war as troops pull back.
Reassuring Afghans they will not be abandoned, while warning neighbouring Iran and Pakistan that Washington will support Kabul for the long haul, has become a focus of US diplomacy.
"This is the kind of relationship that we think will be especially beneficial as we plan for the transition," she said. "It will help the Afghan military expand its capacity and have a broader relationship with the United States."
Civilian aid, to fund ministries, education, health care and agriculture, is just as important as military spending, Mr Karzai has said.
Andrew Mitchell, Britain's Development Secretary, last week warned hard-won gains made by British troops risked being lost if the international donors failed to make long term aid commitments to the country.
Japanese diplomats say those attending Tokyo's conference are expected to promise $15 billion over the coming years.
In return Mr Karzai will promise once again to try and tackle the corruption and waste which have hobbled attempts to rebuild his country and have made allies increasingly unwilling to pay his bills.
Meanwhile his opponents told the Sunday Telegraph that money promised in Tokyo should be dependent on Mr Karzai running free and fair elections when his term expires in 2014. His re-election in 2009 was mired in ballot rigging. Few observers expect the 2014 election to be much cleaner. Mr Karzai has said he will abide by the constitution and not run for a third term, but many predict he will anoint a favoured candidate, perhaps from within his family.
Mahmoud Saikal, a former deputy foreign minister and senior figure in the National Coalition of Afghanistan bloc, said if aid was not tied to fair elections, the coalition would be paying for a dictator.
He said: "We want to see in black and white that international aid to Afghanistan depends, or is contingent on, a respect for the rule of law and in particular running free and fair elections.
"If that is not there, the international community may find itself supporting a dictator after 2014."
No comments:
Post a Comment