Article

2005-09-18 Afghanistan/South Asia

NATO pacifists under fire over Afghanistan

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Posted by Dan Darling 2005-09-18 00:06|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Cowardice. Betrayal. No other words suffice. Just as with the UN, NATO is dead. What remains are the death throes and petulant excuses.

Posted by .com 2005-09-18 00:56|| 2005-09-18 00:56|| Front Page Top

#2 France Germany and Spain. Get us out of NATO now. France doesn't even have a say in NATO as thay cuit and ran already once before. France should know when to keep quiet. The German are back stabbing bastard who can rot in hell. Spain is full of little girls who run it's socialist government. They all can and are going to hell in a hand basket.

Posted by Sock Puppet OÂ´ Doom 2005-09-18 00:56|| 2005-09-18 00:56|| Front Page Top

#3 Form a new alliance with countries like Poland and the other former Eastern European states that have stepped up to the plate. Not only would inviting them vastly increase good relations with them, but these countries are eager to show they are in the fight against terror.

Posted by Silentbrick">Silentbrick 2005-09-18 01:21|| 2005-09-18 01:21|| Front Page Top

#4 Screw it let these selfish socialist fools defend themselves. Get us the hell out of NATO. It's a useless waste of time and the Germans are the biggest and most useless cowards of the bunch. Led by the leaders of all teh German political parties. Get us out of NATIO now. Germany can watch it's own 6 and pay for it. If countries want to be our friends and allies they can do it outside of NATO.They can also pay for it themselves. We have a War gonig and refugees in our own country to take care of. Acting to screw the US means you are not our allies. Get over it grow up and get us out of NATO.

Posted by Sock Puppet OÂ´ Doom 2005-09-18 01:27|| 2005-09-18 01:27|| Front Page Top

#5 Guess they didn't want to dirty up their shiny new HQ building with all those icky war plans and muddy boots...

Posted by Seafarious">Seafarious 2005-09-18 01:44|| 2005-09-18 01:44|| Front Page Top

#6 Form a new alliance with countries like Poland

That would be a mistake. Poland is 50% rabidly anti-American (probably much higher).

Posted by Rafael 2005-09-18 02:19|| 2005-09-18 02:19|| Front Page Top

#7 Your source for that is ???

Posted by Omerens Omaigum2983 2005-09-18 06:14|| 2005-09-18 06:14|| Front Page Top

#8 Germany France and Spain also have large amounts of rabidly anti-American population.

The US should absolutely STOP giving a shit what everyone else thinks anyway. Anything you do will be deeply unpopular. Who gives a shit about the hearts and minds, just get the job done.

Just remember: Australia is your ally and there are many people here who will go to war for you.

We remember you were there for us in WW2. We don't forget.

Posted by anon1 2005-09-18 08:44|| 2005-09-18 08:44|| Front Page Top

#9 The US should pull out of NATO. Then the Euros could rename it the Pacifist Treaty Organization (PTO). PTO troops could then go to troubled places (only if accessible via commercial airlines) and offer group hugs. PTO force working hours would be restricted to seven hours a day on weekdays including a two and a half hour lunch break.

Posted by DMFD 2005-09-18 11:47|| 2005-09-18 11:47|| Front Page Top

#10 What this article shows is that
1) Europeans are more concerned about image than about security.
2) They really aren't interested in the US capturing the Taliban and prosecuting the
9/11 terrorists. If they were, they would be aggressively helping us capture Osama and the rest of the 9/11 criminals in Afghanistan today through unified and principled NATO action. No, somehow, 9/11 put the world right for them.

Iraq was a very convenient cover for European pacifism and anti-Americanism for a while, but their cowardly betrayal of a faithful ally who has pulled them out of the fire more than once is revealed in this refusal.

So here's my own American twist on the oft-repeated Euro phrase that they don't dislike our people, just our president and his policies:
"I don't dislike Europe, just its peoples and their lack of basic decency."

Posted by jules 2 2005-09-18 12:17|| 2005-09-18 12:17|| Front Page Top

#11 R: That would be a mistake. Poland is 50% rabidly anti-American (probably much higher).

I don't doubt it. Poland pulled its troops out for precisely that reason. Don't get me wrong. They like our wealth. They like our technology. But that's not the same as actually liking Americans. Poles are not as bad as the Indians. But they're not the bosom buddies boosters would have you believe (any more than India is).

Posted by Zhang Fei 2005-09-18 13:23|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2005-09-18 13:23|| Front Page Top

#12 It's the domestic hyphen lobbies, just like Greece and Israel.

Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-09-18 13:41|| 2005-09-18 13:41|| Front Page Top

#13 Your source for that is ???

Informal survey of friends and family in Poland, and online forums (like gazeta.pl).

There are three things at work here:
1) anti-semitism is strong in Poland; you won't find someone who is anti-Jew and pro-American at the same time
2) disillusionment with capitalism; there are a lot of people (even those who are relatively well-off) who claim they had it better under communism; capitalism of course, is synonymous with America
3) simply put, there are those who say Poland's place is in Europe (the EU, specifically) and that entails mimicking the behemoths France & Germany

Posted by Rafael 2005-09-18 16:20|| 2005-09-18 16:20|| Front Page Top

#14 NATO was created to keep the Russian bear from gobbling the rest of Western Europe. It worked well. Once the Soviet Union collapsed, however, its reason for existence disappeared, and so did the unity of purpose required to face the threat. It's obsolete. It needs to be abolished. Unfortunately, there's "nothing so permanent as a temporary government agency". It works with International alliances, as well.

There are many good people in Europe. I've met several thousand of them. There are a preponderence of people who believe their own propaganda, however, and ALL of them want a free ride. Also, Europe has a ton of internal problems they've ignored for 30 years, and it's catching up with them. They made decisions in the 1970's and 1980's that they're finding they can't pay for now, can't undo, and can't live with. Expect to see HUGE internal turmoil, similar to the 1920's, throughout Europe in the next ten years. This time, however, they're going to have to solve their own problems - we're busy.

We DO have some staunch allies, especially Britain and Australia. I believe the Japanese want to be equally as strong, but their own constitution limits their role. Canada and New Zealand - two nations that USED to be staunch allies - have followed the European model, and are in terminal decline.

Remember the Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times..."? Well, we're there.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2005-09-18 16:35|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2005-09-18 16:35|| Front Page Top

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