NATO officials have confirmed that the US request included six forms of support ranging from use of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) radar surveillance aircraft to taking part in post-Saddam peacekeeping plans.

Although no immediate decision has been taken, Brussels-based political analysts believe that once the war starts, NATO would surely stretch out its helping hand as Washington demands and help with the regime change in Iraq.

Ever since it was founded five decades ago, NATO has been a useful tool in the US pursuit of its strategic goals. The military alliance, viewed so often as a transatlantic link by many Europeans, was formed to confront challenges from the former Soviet Union in the Cold War era. It has served as guardian of US interests on the European continent in both subsequent Bosnian and Kosovo wars.

The US predominance in the bloc has never been seriously challenged, said the analysts, noting that NATO's participation would enable the US to gain more political support for the war against Iraq from the West because of its superficial multilateralism and credibility of its goals.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said recently that the US proposal is a clear indication of the trust the United States has in NATO.

As the largest military alliance in the world, NATO has a widespread defense and security network in Europe. Its defense capabilities and military planning effectiveness as a military bloc are second to none around the globe, which permit the military alliance to serve as the linchp in in the possible US-led war.

NATO's most prominent role could be in defending Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbor and the United States' key ally in NATO, where the United States is inspecting runways and harbors in preparation for the possible deployment of 80,000 soldiers for further military operations.

Another important role NATO can play is to fill the gaps once US soldiers stationed in Europe are dispatched for Iraq war. There are currently more than 110,000 US soldiers in Europe who are likely to be sent to the front in case of war. If this happens, the European allies would have to send more troops to fill the vacuum in such sensitive areas as the Balkans.

At the Prague summit last November, NATO was transformed to meet new challenges with new commitments and capabilities. It decided to launch pre-emptive attacks against potential security threats wherever in the world. In this regard, the looming Iraq war is widely considered a serious test of its capabilities as a whole.

However, a NATO's possible role in the US-led Iraq war is highly controversial.

With more US troops and aircraft carriers being sent to the Gulf region, more and more anti-war protests have flared in Europe and the United States with thousands of people standing out to call for peace.

Peace activists led the rallies, shouting slogans against US "imperialist aims" and waving banners reading "We are not mercenaries for the US."

According to a survey in early January, around 87 percent of Turkish people and 76 percent of German people oppose military action against Iraq, which may represent the sentiment of the people in NATO countries.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2003)