#9 ...We should have figured out long ago that at least where the continental European allies were concerned, they pretty much based their defense plans on doing nothing more than defending their homeland in the event of a Soviet invasion - and even then, most of them only did the bare minimum or even less. (One thoroughly unknown NATO scandal from the mid 70s on was that exactly ONE continental NATO army - Germany - had enough ammo on hand to last for 30 days of fighting. The others had far far less, and I was told that the average was 5-8 DAYS). When it became clear that the Soviets weren't coming across the inner German border, the continental allies gutted their militaries, probably beyond any reasonable hope of quick recovery. The NATO militaries now are a few token units that are nothing more than a fig leaf and allow our politicians to still say we're part of an alliance. If the truth were told - not likely, unfortunately - the demands for an American withdrawal from Europe would be overwhelming. These Allied 'contributions' will need American transport to get there, American logistics to bring in their parts and American fuel to burn.
Mike |
The German cabinet Wednesday approved the deployment of Tornado jets for surveillance operations with NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Tornado pilots would be authorized to provide intelligence for NATO attacks on Taliban formations, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said. But they would not be allowed to use their bombs or missiles to carry out attacks, government sources told dpa. Parliament needs to approve the mission, which would signal a deepening military commitment by Germany in the region. But approval is considered a formality given the huge majority enjoyed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government in the Bundestag. Deputies are scheduled to discuss the issue in March. Once the vote is taken the first Tornados could arrive in Afghanistan by early April. Government sources said about six Tornado reconnaissance planes would be operate across the entire country, taking aerial pictures of Tailban positions and passing the information on to other NATO partners who would carry out strikes against the Taliban.