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| Europe |
| US warning on Nato's Afghan role |
| 2008-02-10 |
| The European public needs convincing that Nato's mission in Afghanistan is part of a wider fight against global terror, the US defence secretary says. Robert Gates warned that the future of Nato was at risk if it became a "two-tiered alliance" of countries which fought, and those that did not. Mr Gates was speaking on the last day of a security conference in Munich. The summit is also set to consider a threatened diplomatic crisis with Russia over Kosovan independence plans. Mr Gates said it was incumbent upon Nato leaders to "recapitulate to the people of Europe the importance of the Afghanistan mission and its relationship to the wider terrorist threat". "On a conceptual level, I believe it falls squarely within the traditional bounds of the alliance's core purpose: to defend the security interests and values of the trans-Atlantic community," he told the gathering of the world's top defence officials. "We must not - we cannot - become a two-tiered alliance of those who are willing to fight and those who are not," he added. "Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would effectively destroy the alliance." Earlier - in an interview with the BBC - a senior British diplomat defended Nato's operation in Afghanistan, saying the overall strategy was working despite some problems on the ground. Stewart Eldon, the UK's permanent representative to Nato, said it was a "mistake" to say Afghanistan would make or break Nato. The BBC's Jonathan Marcus, at the conference, says the issue of Kosovo was also likely to make waves on the final day of the talks. Russia's first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov was addressing delegates on Sunday. Ahead of his speech, a Russian spokesman told the BBC that a declaration of independence by Kosovo and its subsequent recognition by the United States and many European Union countries would create an international state of emergency. That, the spokesman said, could jeopardise the whole standing of the United Nations. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 OldSpook: Whats funny is the the French are willing to fight and the Germans are a bunch of pussies. Not so fast, OS... The French are still out there defending the Greater French Co-Prosperity Sphere, if the Germans had any ex-colonial possessions to exploit they would be in the game. Self interest can make anyone braver --- even give French Politicians a spine implant (their soldiers have always been brave enough). |
| Posted by: Tyranysaurus Thineger1966 2008-02-10 17:59 |
| #5 Whats funny is the the French are willing to fight and the Germans are a bunch of pussies. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-02-10 16:27 |
| #4 Gates really does seem to be the man we need at the moment. I'd hope that if Sen. McCain wins in November that he'd keep Gates on for a while. As to NATO, as much as I like many individual Europeans, I'm getting awfully tired of being responsible for the defense of a continent full of people who won't defend themselves. No doubt that will get me a lecture on how important Europe is. I just wish the Euros would realize that. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-02-10 13:15 |
| #3 Ditto. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-02-10 07:59 |
| #2 Gates came as close to threatening to leave NATO as any American official ever has and, I think, could without making the threat explicit. The timing of this could make continued membership in Nato a campaign issue. And once it becomes a topic of public debate in the U. S. the Euros will find that their support here is a mile wide and an inch deep. I cannot imagine either candidate coming out in support of Nato membership if the other launches a well researched and presented attack on it. Gates is growing in office, and I never thought I'd be saying that. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-02-10 07:51 |
| #1 It is not a question of NATO becoming a two-tiered alliance, it is a question of underlining the blindingly obvious fact NATO is a two-tiered alliance. Most Europeans could care less about their own security let alone shedding a tear - much less a drop of blood - for the security of anyone else. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-02-10 07:05 |