Gates Hammers NATO, Questions Group‘s ’Dim’ Future
- Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:37am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
- Print »
- Email »
BRUSSELS (AP) — America’s military alliance with Europe — the cornerstone of U.S. security policy for six decades — faces a “dim, if not dismal” future, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday in a blunt valedictory address.
In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of NATO, saying its members’ penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of U.S. support. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in 1949 as a U.S.-led bulwark against Soviet aggression, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose.
“Future U.S. political leaders – those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me – may not consider the return on America’s investment in NATO worth the cost,” he told a European think tank on the final day of an 11-day overseas journey.
Gates has made no secret of his frustration with NATO bureaucracy and the huge restrictions many European governments placed on their military participation in the Afghanistan war. He ruffled NATO feathers early in his tenure with a direct challenge to contribute more front-line troops that yielded few contributions.
Even so, Gates’ assessment Friday that NATO is falling down on its obligations and foisting too much of the hard work on the U.S. was unusually harsh and unvarnished. He said both of NATO’s main military operations now — Afghanistan and Libya — point up weaknesses and failures within the alliance.
“The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense,” he said.
Without naming names, he blasted allies who are “willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets.”
The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops based in Europe, not to stand guard against invasion but to train with European forces and promote what for decades has been lacking: the ability of the Europeans to go to war alongside the U.S. in a coherent way.
The war in Afghanistan, which is being conducted under NATO auspices, is a prime example of U.S. frustration at European inability to provide the required resources.
“Despite more than 2 million troops in uniform, not counting the U.S. military, NATO has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of 25,000 to 45,000 troops, not just in boots on the ground, but in crucial support assets such as helicopters, transport aircraft, maintenance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and much more,” Gates said.
Gates, a career CIA officer who rose to become the spy agency’s director from 1991 to 1993, is retiring on June 30 after 4½ years as Pentagon chief. His designated successor, Leon Panetta, is expected to take over July 1.
For many Americans, NATO is a vague concept tied to a bygone era, a time when the world feared a Soviet land invasion of Europe that could have escalated to nuclear war. But with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO’s reason for being came into question. It has remained intact — and even expanded from 16 members at the conclusion of the Cold War to 28 today.
But reluctance of some European nations to expand defense budgets and take on direct combat has created what amounts to a two-tier alliance: the U.S. military at one level and the rest of NATO on a lower, almost irrelevant plane.
Gates said this could spell the demise of NATO.
“What I’ve sketched out is the real possibility for a dim, if not dismal future for the trans-Atlantic alliance,” he said. “Such a future is possible, but not inevitable. The good news is that the members of NATO – individually and collectively – have it well within their means to halt and reverse these trends and instead produce a very different future.”
Gates has said he believes NATO will endure despite its flaws and failings. But his remarks Friday point to a degree of American impatience with traditional and newer European allies that in coming years could lead to a reordering of U.S. defense priorities in favor of Asia and the Pacific, where the rise of China is becoming a predominant concern.
To illustrate his concerns about Europe’s lack of appetite for defense, Gates noted the difficulty NATO has encountered in carrying out an air campaign in Libya.
“The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country, yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference,” he said.
His comment reflected U.S. frustration with the allies’ limited defense budgets.
“To avoid the very real possibility of collective military irrelevance, member nations must examine new approaches to boosting combat capabilities,” he said.
He applauded Norway and Denmark for providing a disproportionate share of the combat power in the Libya operation, given the size of their militaries. And he credited Belgium and Canada for making “major contributions” to the effort to degrade the military strength of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi.
“These countries have, with their constrained resources, found ways to do the training, buy the equipment and field the platforms necessary to make a credible military contribution,” he said.
But they are exceptions, in Gates’ view.
A NATO air operations center designed to handle more than 300 flights a day is struggling to launch about 150 a day against Libya, Gates said.
On a political level, the problem of alliance purpose in Libya is even more troubling, he said.
“While every alliance member voted for the Libya mission, less than half have participated, and fewer than a third have been willing to participate in the strike mission,” he said. “Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they can’t. The military capabilities simply aren’t there.”
Afghanistan is another example of NATO falling short despite a determined effort, Gates said.
He recalled the history of NATO’s involvement in the Afghan war — and the mistaken impression some allied governments held of what it would require of them.
“I suspect many allies assumed that the mission would be primarily peacekeeping, reconstruction and development assistance – more akin to the Balkans,” he said, referring to NATO peacekeeping efforts there since the late 1990s. “Instead, NATO found itself in a tough fight against a determined and resurgent Taliban returning in force from its sanctuaries in Pakistan.”
He also offered praise and sympathy, noting that more than 850 troops from non-U.S. NATO members have died in Afghanistan. For many allied nations these were their first military casualties since World War II.
He seemed to rehearse his position in the coming debate within the Obama administration on how many troops to withdraw from Afghanistan this year.
“Far too much has been accomplished, at far too great a cost, to let the momentum slip away just as the enemy is on his back foot,” he said.
He said the “vast majority” of the 30,000 extra troops Obama sent to Afghanistan last year will remain through the summer fighting season. He was not more specific.
___
Robert Burns can be reached at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 691 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 488 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 375 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 338 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 326 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 311 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 326 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 224 Comments- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 311 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (60)
wampanoag
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 12:46pmLets make a bet that Gates already has a job lined up as a chief executive with a major defense contractor at multi million dollar salary. Of course he has to push for wars and armaments. The military industrial complex must be fed, and fed well.
All American wars since WW2 were unnecessary and disproportionate leading to vast profits for the war profiteers. President Eisenhower-my hero- was so right when he warned America about the dangers to come from the American military industrial complex. He knew what he was talking about.
Report Post »ohiovalleywizard
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 12:45pmif we could rid ourselves of nato maybe there’s hope to 86 the U.N. as well
Report Post »airborneoathkeeper
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 12:28pmIt’s time for our troops to come home from Europe……if they can’t deal with their own security then let international-darwinism have it’s way with them. Their economic policy‘s as well as their social and foriegn policy’s have been counter to US policy for some time now. Europe will fall on their own accord and we don’t need to be in the middle of yet another base of operations. Job well done troops now come home and rest for a while….you deserve it.
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 11:53amLets get out of NATO asap.Its a drain on our resources in lives, treasure and material. We have always had to do the heavy hauling and since the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been no real purpose to it.
Report Post »ED4237
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 11:23amNATO is just American paid for with our troops and treasure. We defend the worthless Euro’s for free. They should have to pay more and have more troops involved in any war we get in with those losers. They all deserve to fall if they can’t protect themseleves from any enemy but why if we do it for them.
Report Post »SCARED
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 10:58amWould be interesting to see how much of each of NATO’s members GDPs are dedicated to defense vs their socialist programs. Liberal Americans think these countries are so great with their nationalized healthcare but fail to see two things 1) the tax rates in these countries are astronomical 2) Some of these countries rely exclusively on the US military for their defense thus more of their tax money is available for the nationalized entitlement programs. Keep in mind that even with almost no defense spending the taxes are unbelievably high.
What makes us think we can do the same nationalizing healthcare and having our huge defense budget?? We just aren’t set up that way.
Report Post »flsnipe
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 10:53amBuy food and ammo we are screwed !!
Report Post »dizzyinthedark
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 10:10amFacts we know: “NATO bureaucracy, NATO is falling down on its obligations and foisting too much of the hard work on the U.S.”
Gates speaks for the American people: “The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense,” he said. Without naming names, he blasted allies who are “willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defense budgets.” The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops based in Europe, not to stand guard against invasion but to train with European forces and promote what for decades has been lacking: the ability of the Europeans to go to war alongside the U.S. in a coherent way.
Nice to see Gates hears us! Keep the pressure on Congress people! At least our Military leaders understand the pulse of America!! Common sense! Too bad he can’t do anything about Soetoro, Pelosi, Clinton.
Report Post »junkmaninohio
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 10:07amGates can complain ad nauseum but the dirty little secret is the US will continue to spend $billions of our tax dollars providing military assistence to countries who refuse to spend one dollar of their own money to defend themselves. Worse, our venerated Congress will go on funding this farce by doing nothing to stop it. It is now WAR WITHOUT END with our blood and treasure in Iraq, Afganistan, Lybia and now Yemen. Four wars now going on and for what? Congress is too corrupt to stop this. Time for a revolution again.
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:53amWhile your at it, how ’bout getting out of the U.N. !
Report Post »EqualJustice
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 10:12amI was just going to say that! Great minds and all..
Report Post »gpk
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:29amGood grief why are we still stationed in Germany. I was in the Army 44 years ago along the east german border. Isn’t it time we leave?
Report Post »sbleve
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:27amNATO – welfare office. Cannon fodder. Tactical Nuke weapons. Has always been the redistribution of economic affluence. The M-60 tank never had a gun on it that would kill a Soviet main battle tank – in a long slug fest.
Surplus food commodity distribution. What’s the idea, these are dry beans, they are not pre-cooked ready to serve.
NATO is the conversion of perceived-threat alliance into a man made empire building business. An extension of the Nanny mentality.
Conservative to what? Until Perestroika, Russia followed their Conservatism. Like in Torie fairytale land of 1779. As then it is today, will man continue on a quest for Self Rule? Or will the King decide?
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:16amAnd another position for Panetta.
Report Post »Maybe the pretender in chief will give Gates a gangster send off complete with a 40 splashed on him or put a bullet in his suit pocket. Thug administration.
powhatan
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:16amI am almost to the point of banning anything with initials…..NATO, UN, EPA, DOE, FCC, etc etc etc….
Report Post »standwithIsraelstandwithGod
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:57amOMG they‘re figuring out that we don’t need to be bleeding our play money into supporting countries that should take care of themselves?!?!?! The sky is truly falling!
Report Post »GMI
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:53amLong overdue. As usual, where are the French? Why does NATO even exist anymore? I’m a Army retiree, and I can tell you from my experience that the US has always done the work. These :“allies”, and I use the French, cause they were the worst, are useless. Nice uniforms, that never get dirty. The joke during the gulf war was how nice that the French and Kuwati’s finally got to meet at the parades, cause no one ever saw them otherwise. The Brits, on the other hand were great!
Report Post »enigmaman
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:27amThank you Mr Gates for your honest forthright opinion on NATO uselessness, no matter what Obama wants the world to believe the USA is the world leader whom everybody looks to when there are problems in the world that need attention. Without America NATOs is an empty shell that will be of no value to anybody in need
Report Post »TRILO
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:21amTIme to move on. NATO had its purpose. These other nations will never step up as long as the US foots the bill with both men and money. Unfortunately, while Gates is right, the war hawks in the US Congress will never disband one of their war machines, especially one who’s skirt they can hide under to give the illusion that it is not US troops leading the fight. Did anyone else pick up the line “Summer fighting season”? Sad that we have been involved in so many conflicts around the world that we now refer to time frames as “seasons”.
Report Post »ThomasUSA
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:02amLets add the UN to this list of ” worthless socialist/communist/ progressives..
Report Post »charliego
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 11:23amThomasusa:
Report Post »My thoughts exactly! Thank you for your precise and succinct description!
charles1540
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:01amPerhaps in 2012 we can get ride of this president and get someone who has some experience and get us out of the UN and NATO both of which serve only to get US money!
Report Post »maryjanesuncle
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:50amLets show smarts here and leave both NATO and the UN…Its time for an Alliance of Free Nations..The motto..We take care of ourselves..
Report Post »dorightfearnothing
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 3:08pmGreat plan!! If U.S. left NATO then NATO would fold, having no military power or funding. NATO is not good for the U.S. as we only stand to lose. Withdraw from NATO, UN, all of it!!!!!
Report Post »beerios
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:48amBetter late than never, eh Gates? Thanks for the shoutout on the way out.
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:44amJust like the United Nation, the United States is the one that pays the freight.
Report Post »nomercy63
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:42amYeah lets piss off Nato too!! Good plan, I think all we have left is Canada and some small Carribean Island as allies?
Report Post »NCHokie
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:15amNATO sucks, plain and simple. They never move without the US moving first and the US always does the lions share of the work. I applaud Gates for stating this however I think he is also correct in stating that nothing will change despite how bad they suck.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:18amPiss off Nato? Nato is a disfunctional family who rely on us to cover their buns. Just like the UN. Time is come for our EU Allies?? to put up their own defenses, on their own dime.
Report Post »randy
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:19amSounds like a good plan to me….. You can worry about ******* off NATO, because I don’t.
Report Post »Let’s piss off he UN too!
5410amh
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:44amNato is worthless! It may have had a purpose during the cold war but not anymore. And they hardly contribute anything to war efforts anyway, they stand back and let us do the fighting and dying.
Report Post »NJONY
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 9:04pmThe French are chicken, the Germans don’t necessarily like us. We gave our blood and sweat in WWII and have continued to protect Europe. I hope our friendship with England survives Obama’s reign.
NATO is passe. . .
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 5:16amNATO is and always will be nothing other than a way for the lame azz europeans to soak us dry to defend them while they squander their money on liberal progressive BS. That is it. We have been used since the end of WW2. Is anybody really suprised?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:39am.
Report Post »Bunch of progressive yahoooo’s dis-ban NATO
BOMUSTGO
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:42amThings are looking “dim” for us as long as we have those Dimocrats in office!
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 7:52amI agree pull all our troops out of foreign countries beef up our real national security and defend our borders as the Constitution intended. Let the world feed on itself because if we step away it will.
Report Post »joe conservative
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:02amAll of a sudden, Robert Gates sounds like a conservative again. It will be interesting to hear what he says after he retires. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7pEMu8dBOw He seems to be one of the few who realizes that Obama is just a moment in time.
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:04amNATO, UN, NAFTA…. Cancel our subscription with all of them.
Report Post »jnobfan
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:21amWe are now involved in 4 wars – 5 if you include Pakistan and have troops in 150 countries.
Report Post »Its a giant money train that has become a “too big to fail” industry.
We are protecting poppy fields in Afgan from the Taliban (they don’t like drugs) and have an open southern border in our own country to assist the drug trade here at home.
Corruption gone global and we are paying for it with our young peoples blood and our hard earned pay.
Please get out and vote in your states primary to remove the carreer criminal politicians on both sides.
RepubliCorp
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:57amNATO is a waste of money and time. The EU is worthless and use us so they can have a small army. And act like they are so high and mighty. They use us like a $2 ******.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:04amBlaze: you edit the word (******?) why? Is this a children s blog?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:11amOkay NATO is passed into history, so bring our troops home and let europe face it’s own furure.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:18amStop ceding our sovereign power and authority with treaties.
Stop ceding power to NATO
Stop ceding power to NAFTA
Stop ceding power to SALT
Stop ceding power to The Fed
STOP CEDING POWER.
There are very few enumerated powers of our federal government, and, ever since passage of the 10th ammendment, Congress has spent all its time trying to get AROUND the Constitution, and want to do EVERYTHING EXCEPT what they are supposed to do.
WHEN IS THE LAST TIME THEY PASSED A BUDGET ! ? ! ? !
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 12:43pmNATO was set up to defend Europe against invaders. A different set of invaders have invaded and are winning in Europe. NATO now seeks to help the invaders and has neutralized itself in the process. This is strong stuff, coming from Gates.
Report Post »Sound The Trumpet In Zion
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 12:54pmWait for a little bit. As soon as obama’s pet, panetta takes over we’ll start hearing again how wonderful and efficient NATO is.
Report Post »Susan Harkins
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 5:41pmBilderberg Security Assaults EU Members of Parliament
Italian politician, member of the Northern League, and member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Mario Borghezio, was beaten and arrested by Bilderberg Security yesterday as he attempted to enter the meeting and protest its secretive globalist agenda. He was reportedly accompanied by other EU members.
Remarkably, Borghezio’s maltreatment went unreported in the United States. This would be analogous to the beating of a member of Congress going unreported by the media.
————–
If you lift the rug, you can see the ugly floor show (and roaches).
Hmmm — is this not news, Blaze?
Report Post »Susan Harkins
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 5:50pm@TomFerrari
TomFerrari
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 9:18am
Stop ceding our sovereign power and authority with treaties.
Stop ceding power to NATO
Stop ceding power to NAFTA
Stop ceding power to SALT
Stop ceding power to The Fed
STOP CEDING POWER.
————
Almost feels like you are screaming at a brick wall, doesn’t it?
But then again — its all part of the Bilderberg design. THAT is why nobody is listening, as it runs CONTRARY to their dreams of global consolidation via “governmental redistrobution”.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 8:31pmGetting America out of NATO and NATO out of America, is long overdue!!
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on June 11, 2011 at 10:01amDisband Bilderberg.
What the hell was DEFENSE SECRETARY Robert Gates doing at the Bilderberg Meeting?
Violating the Logan Act, no doubt…
Criminals.
Brazen criminals.
Report Post »Entropy
Posted on June 12, 2011 at 5:21am@republicorp
Report Post »Yes, this is a children’s blog. Glen the phoney hired some left wing commie hack to run the joint. They will censor the words Mickey Mouse here pretty soon.