[Colin Glassey] NATO is Dead
Today, NATO died. Not offically. But it is now defunct. Last week the United States last week formally asked NATO to provide indirect military assistance in case of a war with Iraq, mainly to protect NATO ally Turkey against possible Iraqi attacks. Today, Germany and France offically blocked this resolution. So, we told NATO in no uncertain terms that we were going to war against Iraq and we wanted their help in a limited way. Today Germany and France said no. Thanks to Steve Den Beste for the links.
While the end of NATO is sad, it did serve a large purpose, to defend Western Europe against the U.S.S.R. With the demise of the Soviet Union there were real questions starting in 1991 about the future of NATO. I think those questions are now answered. NATO has no future purpose. I think we will remove all our troops from Germany within the next two years.
So what killed NAT0? In part it came down to a divergence of national interest between the United States and the Franco-German alliance. The end of the Cold War ment that NATO was no longer necessary. Now that a real test has come we see the difference of opinion between the United States and the Franco-German alliance is large. Too large for France or Germany to be allies of the United States.
What I really think is that France and Germany are afraid. Scared of the change. Scared of the future. So worried about the upsetting the status quo that they would rather see Sadam Hussein remain in power forever in Iraq. I say the governments of Germany and France are composed of gutless cowards. I say the governments of Germany and France are more sympathetic to the Iraqi dictatorship than they are to the government of the United States. Time for us to go our seperate ways.
NATO might continue to exist as a security blanket for Eastern European countries but as long as Germany and France remain a part of it, NATO is useless to the United States and the United Kingdom.
5:43:04 PM 
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