Rumsfeld urges NATO rapid-reaction force

'Able to respond to a problem in a matter of days'

Donald Rumsfeld wants a NATO force with "the kind of agility to deal with the types of problems that exist today."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday that he will propose next week to NATO that it create a rapid-reaction force.

"My proposal is really no different than the kind of thing we've been doing here in the United States," Rumsfeld told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre in an interview.

He'll be suggesting, he said, "that one of the transformational things NATO could do would be to develop a quick reaction force that would be able to respond to a problem in a matter of days, rather than weeks or months, and to have the kind of agility to deal with the types of problems that exist today."

Rumsfeld said he will make the proposal at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Warsaw.

The proposal has nothing to do with whether NATO takes on a larger role with the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, he said.

"With respect to what NATO might or might not do in Afghanistan, that would be totally disconnected from the proposal," he said.

During his trip to Poland, Rumsfeld said, he will also discuss with U.S. allies the situation in Iraq. He challenged McIntyre's contention that only Great Britain has agreed to support unilateral action by the United States against Iraq.

"There are other countries that have indicated either publicly or privately that they're in a position to be quite cooperative with respect to what the United States might or might not do with respect to Iraq," he said.

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