Free Republic

March 11, 2005 EU Shock: Troops May Have to Fight NATO's Secretary General, Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, seems to know a thing or two about expectation management. Talking to El Pais yesterday, he sought to remind European leaders that soldiers, to be effective, may sometimes be called on to fight. "Why is the EU creating battle groups?" he asks rhetorically. "It is not just to help rebuild a country. It may be, that to keep the peace, combat is necessary." He also pours some cold water on the distinction, much vaunted within the EU, between the "hard power" (military)...