Better Late Than Never?
From Bloomberg:
Stressing they want to strengthen Europe’s alliance with the U.S., not weaken it, four states that opposed war in Iraq urged Europe to pool military spending and develop joint intervention and transport forces.
The leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg said their proposals are open to all members of the European Union.
“We believe the time has come to take new steps in the construction of a Europe of security and defense, based on strengthened European military capabilities which will also give a new vitality to the Atlantic alliance and open the way to a renewed trans-Atlantic relationship,” a joint statement said.
In professional political terms, this is called “sucking up.”
Sure, it might be nice in the future if continental Europe had a military able to fight alongside our own in some distant land. But there are two big problems.
First, their proposal isn’t just about sucking up to us. Of course Germany would like better relations with us again, and (believe it or not) so would France. But they still see a European Rapid Reaction Force as a counterweight to our military, not just an add-on to it. “You need us to help you fight,” they’d love to be able to argue, “so we’re going tot help decide where and when and how.” A Franco-German RRF would more likely be used in the same way as France’s UN veto than it would to act as an allied army.
Second, it ain’t gonna happen. Neither France nor Germany (the only two nations big enough to count) can afford a deployable military without slashing their welfare states. Cutting entitlement payments to populations as gray as theirs is about as likely as a crack ho getting a jumbo mortgage at 5.5%. Besides, Europe has been talking about these improvements for years without doing anything much to achieve them.
And so NATO will continue in its new role as the Press Release Alliance, and nothing more.
Ironically enough, it was the Americans who had been pushing a European defense force for quite some time; I sat in once for a lecture by the Belgian Ambassador to South Korea (cool guy, went to Georgetown), and I remember him complaining about it ad nausea. Of course, this is a plan doomed for failure; nobody in their right mind would rely on the French for their security needs (West Africa is tough enough for them as it is), and the Germans can’t upgrade their force without becoming a threat to their neighbors and Russia (which is precisely why they maintain their security ties with the US). And as you pointed out, talk is cheap; creating and maintaining a first-rate fighting force ain’t. It requires more time, money, and political will than the Europeans seem to be willing to spare.
Complaining about US hegemony is easy. Coming up with something with which to replace it tends to be more difficult. Still, it should be amusing to watch “Old” Europe try…
But just think of all the juicy kickbacks those polititians could get from defense contractors.
Although, here’s a radical thought:
Would France (and possibly Germany), if they had their own airlift, actually challenge us indirectly?
If an Iraq-type situation occurred in the future, would there be a European force suddenly on the ground in Baghdad (or Cairo, or wherever), saying “Our proposal was for continued inspections, and these troops are here to make sure that’s the choice that’s made”?
One wonders just how far the Euros might go, if they had the power as well as the desire to make life difficult for us…..
What really worries some British at the moment (like me) is that back in 2000 the French and Germans were pushing this, and Tony Blair was showing signs of genuine interest.
Now elements of the left, and others that favour the UK joining Weaseldom, have got behind it.
I hope that Blair has learnt the lessons of the last couple of years, and rejects appeasing the Labour left and the Weasels this way.
Tone does have a tendency (sometimes) to try too hard to get along with everybody.
With the best military in Europe at the moment, the UK would be stuck with the thick end of the bills and the effort, while Paris tried to direct force policy and make sure the Continent got the plum contracts.
That beside the potential damage to the UK’s relations with the USA.
I hope the US govt. sees the danger, and is working to offer the UK extra incentives, and polite warnings about the downside, to help ensure this does not happen. And that enough British politicians are awake to the uselessness and unreliability of WeaselForce compared to the Anglo-American Alliance.
I’ve been following the job-farm contract that is the A400-M heavy lifter cargo plane for a while now. The entire concept of job-creation and cost saving is dependant on the number of planes to be build. The more planes, the cheaper the cost per plane. Unfortunately for the rest of the fools aboard this plan, Germany is the biggest buyer, and they’ve just went through another round of delay and cut-back. England has at this point all but given up hope of ever seeing one of these supposed cost-saving planes ever being build, and have resorted to rent C-17 from US Air Force and Boeing.
One of the key ingredient of any rapid deployed forces is the heavy lifting cargo planes. You really don’t want to Fed-Ex your tanks plus ALL of the required support materials.