The end of an affair

25.02.10

I'm sad to see you go.

Principalmente porque na Europa só te vejo substituida por uma anomia a que chamamos humanismo.

The leaders of the Cold War alliance, which did so much to keep the peace in Europe for the latter half of the 20^th century, are trying to stretch its scope and mission to the fighting fields of Afghanistan in a bid to keep it relevant—but they may be crossing a bridge too far.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates took a whack at the allies on Tuesday at a NATO Strategic Concept Seminar in Washington, D.C., berating all but a handful of them for spending too little on defense and paying too little attention to the gravest threats of the post-Cold War era.

He complained that just five of the alliance's 28 nations have met the common pledge to devote at least 2 percent of their gross domestic products to their military establishments—a shortfall that Gates decried as "NATO's budgetary crisis."

And while he lauded those nations that have agreed to send more troops to Afghanistan in the last few months, he noted that too few of them are providing the equipment—cargo planes, refueling tankers, helicopters, and reconnaissance drones—that's vital to the fight.

These failings, he concluded, raise doubts about whether NATO is capable of making the "transition" from "a static, defensive force," formed to deter and beat back a Soviet invasion of Europe, to "an expeditionary force" capable of staving off insurgents and terrorists in faraway lands.

The real question, though, is whether NATO is, or ever was, a suitable vehicle for this new, offensive mission. The evidence to date suggests it isn't.

Autoria e outros dados (tags, etc)

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politica

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2 comentários

De Tárique a 26.02.2010 às 16:39

Tens pena que mais dinheiro dos teus impostos não seja gasto a enviar mísseis de 2 M€ contra cabanas nas estepes asiáticas? Votarias numa subida de impostos para pagar uma escalada do esforço expedicionário de projecção militar do eixo atlântico?

Ser de direita deve ser um bocado marado ...

De Aurea Mediocritas a 26.02.2010 às 19:18

Sim, exactamente.
Acho que se gasta demais em segurança social e de menos em segurança.
Acho que se devia começar a cortar na segurança social em toda a Europa, para que tenhamos um Exército Europeu que se veja.
Acho mesmo que esse deveria ser o primeiro passo no aprofundamente do federalismo, consequente destruição dos poderes nacionais, para desembocar finalmente num Império Europeu.

Volta sempre Tárique

Aurea Mediocritas

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