Posted on 02/24/2010 12:27:12 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Europe has demilitarized too much since the end of the Cold War and its underfunded defense budgets are undermining shared security goals, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.
Gates, addressing a NATO seminar in Washington, said too few helicopters and cargo aircraft for the NATO mission in Afghanistan were "directly impacting operations." NATO also needed more aerial refueling tankers and surveillance aircraft.
"Despite the need to spend more on vital equipment for ongoing missions, the alliance has been unwilling to fundamentally change how it sets priorities and allocates resources," Gates said.
"We need to provide our troops in the field the resources they need and fund other urgent priorities, such as missile defense," Gates said.
The comments follow U.S. President Barack Obama's request earlier this month to Congress for a record $708 billion in U.S. defense spending for fiscal 2011, including a hike for the Afghan war effort.
The unwillingness of European countries to fund defense was part of a trend in which large parts of the public and the political class there "are averse to military force and the risks that go with it," Gates said.
"The demilitarization of Europe ... has gone from a blessing in the 20th century to an impediment to achieving real security and lasting peace in the 21st," Gates said.
"Not only can real or perceived weakness be a temptation to miscalculation and aggression, but, on a more basic level, the resulting funding and capability shortfalls make it difficult to operate and fight together to confront shared threats."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well, their and our defense will soon be null, (economics) ..regardless. At our rate of collapse, they are in imminent danger.. Our problems will follow...
Don’t you just love a good bitch fight between liberals.
Good luck trying to get the western European NATO countries to spend more on their military. It won’t happen. With the exception of France, they’re all undergoing demographic collapse, with the attending budget implications brought about by their cradle-to-grave social welfare.
Two times in one century…never again…let them wipe themselves out…this is just population control…the Euro-trash and bitches deserve what they get from the Moors and Arabs; any further assistance should be paid for at market rate!
defense spending & cradle-to-grave social welfare
water & vinegar
Take your pick at YOUR OWN PERIL.
Don’t worry, your rich Uncle Sam will bail you out again. </sarcasm, as if you couldn’t tell>
America’s ongoing occupation of Europe and resultant effective defense of same has allowed Europe to develop without dangerous, yes dangerous, military capabilities. It ended, at least until the next Moslem stage of Europe’s development, the centuries of intra-European wars that culminated in WWII. Only England retained has any real military capability and Argentina has made the judgment(again) that even that has melted away. Europe(Germany, France) is not dangerous because they have not “shared” in Europe’s defense. USSR/Russia was/is dissuaded from westward expansion for the same reason.
Yeah, I have the same sense about Argentina. Argentina will make another move on the Falklands sooner than later I think. And, this time I doubt that the UK will attempt an offensive to remove the Argentineans. Instead, will offer up some sort of lame face-saving transfer of power to the Argentineans. Concerning the EU and Europeans in general; let'm twist in the wind. We should pull all of our military assets out of Europe and let'm fend for themselves - or not.
Europe’s demilitarization has allowed them to redirect monies into welfare spending and social(ist) programs. The high spending has not gone unnoticed by libdem weenies who want such spending here in the US. They conveniently forget, though, the American umbrella of defense allows lower security spending in Europe and the misdirection of defense dollars into squishy give-aways.
There IS NO DEFENSE in Europe for the enemies within. The UNaccountable Eurocrats or the mohammedans. Individuals are pawns on their chessboard.
We the people on the other hand, have Amendment II.
Yes.
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