14-15 May 2007

NATO’s Top Officer Invited to a Gulf Cooperation Council Event The Chairman of the Military Committee (CMC), General Ray Henault, was invited to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Executive Defence and Security Seminar, which took place in Doha, Qatar 14, 15 May 2007. The invitation came from, Qatar’s Chief of Defence; Major-General Hamad Ali Al-Attiyah.  As the host of the seminar, he gave the CMC a prominent position at the head table next to the US Central Command representative, whose command co-sponsored the Exercise. According to the CMC, the seminar was well organized.  “I salute Qatar for its leadership in organising this important Commander’s Seminar”, said General Henault to journalists attending the seminar.  “The security challenges that face the GCC countries are the same security challenges facing the NATO Alliance, which is why our cooperation is so important”. The Seminar, which followed the international military exercise Eagle Resolve, was designed to highlight the security concerns of the GCC and discuss ways to enhance their capacity in order to address regional security concerns, such as the nuclear aspirations of Iran, the instability in Iraq and the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction. This was an excellent opportunity for the CMC to represent the Alliance in a GCC event.  General Henault used the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with the six GCC Chiefs of Defence to promote and encourage greater Gulf involvement in NATO’s Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, or ICI program. “The level of cooperation between NATO and the Gulf States has increased significantly and I encourage the GCC nations involved to make the most of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative”, added General Henault.  “Cooperation between NATO and ICI countries is resulting in practical military to military advice and collaboration in areas such as defence reform and training as well as intelligence sharing”. The speakers’ ranged from experts, to academics to senior military officials who illustrated the various threats in the region and the need to further develop GCC capabilities to address these emerging challenges collectively. This was an extremely useful CMC visit and the opportunity to meet all GCC Chiefs of Defence was invaluable given the recent political direction for the Alliance to enhance cooperation with the Gulf States.

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