Friday, June 10, 2011

US Defense Secretary Blasts NATO

BRUSSELS — 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.
Read the rest here.

1 comment:

rabidgandhi said...

Nato is crucial because of the imminent threat posed by the Soviets to strategic positions in the North Atlantic.

There's also the danger the Nicaraguans might bomb Abiline.