February 14, 2005
TEEING ONE UP FOR RUMMY:
U.S. brushes off German NATO plan (Judy Dempsey, February 14, 2005, International Herald Tribune)
A German proposal to reform the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by establishing a trans-Atlantic forum to agree strategies was brushed aside by U.S. officials and rejected by the organization at a major security conference in Munich over the weekend.The U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, lavishly praised NATO in a speech Saturday and bluntly questioned the need for a new panel proposed by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. [...]
In Munich, Schröder bluntly stated that NATO was "no longer the primary venue where trans-Atlantic partners discuss and coordinate strategies."
Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, tried Sunday to counter the impression that Berlin believes NATO has outlived its usefulness.
"NATO is an expression of the common trans-Atlantic civilization," said Fischer, adding that Schröder's initiative was aimed at strengthening, not weakening NATO.
We no longer have a common civilization. They're secular. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 14, 2005 7:39 AM
NATO has become just an abstract that allows Europe and Canada to be everything to everybody, slash their military budgets and avoid taking their rhetoric to its logical conclusion. I really don't understand why Rumsfeld says he is so keen on it. And even if some would argue with you that the there is still a common civilization, so what.
Posted by: Peter B at February 14, 2005 8:48 AMSomeone on rantburg or EU referendum pointed out Gerhard wants once again, others, to pick up the tab for Germany's protection.
Posted by: Sandy P at February 14, 2005 10:56 AMThe NATO defense shield, actually just the U.S. military protecting its continental weakers sisters, has only promoted socialism in Western Europe and kept those countries weak. If these countries actually had to configure viable defenses for themselves, they wouldn't have the money for their welfare statism. They would be forced to move to the center and would probably be more allies-like instead of allies-lite.
Posted by: Palmcroft at February 14, 2005 10:57 AMSince the Berlin Wall fell, the value of NATO in its current configuration is dubious at best. What common interest do we have with the Scandanavian nanny-staters like Norway? Or with a duckling to France's mother duck like Belgium or Luxembourg? Or with a sclerotic socialist dying state like Germany? Or with disintegrating jokes of countries like Spain or Canada?
We need to form a new alliance with the nations of the former Warsaw Pact and some of the former SSRs that see that real threats exist to their freedom and that other peoples deserve the same rights as they do.
Let the Germans and the French continue their rot, so long as we don't subsidize it.
Posted by: Bart at February 14, 2005 11:35 AMBart: The current state of Europe is our greatest foreign policy achievement. I agree, though, that it is probably safe to bring the troops home, or at least to redeploy them.
Posted by: David Cohen at February 14, 2005 11:57 AM--The current state of Europe is our greatest foreign policy achievement.--
Which state is that? Disarray or commie-lite?
Posted by: Sandy P at February 14, 2005 12:16 PMPacified.
Posted by: David Cohen at February 14, 2005 12:40 PMAs I've said before, we should redeploy to the Grand Puszta in Hungary. Flat, dry, cheap, the people like us, great food, better wine, beautiful women, perfect for a military staging area. We should be engaging in more and larger exercises with our Eastern European friends just to make sure the Russian bear knows that unlike Elvis, we haven't left the building.
Posted by: Bart at February 14, 2005 12:43 PMAlso closer geograhically to the US areas of interest to the south and east. And are less likely to deny flyover rights or block ground movements (such as when Austria blocked the 4th Division supply trains heading to Turkey).
Posted by: Gideona at February 14, 2005 2:23 PM