<double cross NATO>
There seems to be a widespread feeling, that the Europeans are reneging on their NATO obligations, stabbing the U.S. in the back.
A little history:
1. NATO's mandate is explicitly, solely, defensive. It was set up to stop 10,000 Soviet tanks from reaching Paris. That's what W. Europe signed up for. It was never intended, and nobody ever agreed to a mandate that included, any offensive military action of any kind, even in Europe.
2. NATO is (again, explicitly, solely) limited to military activity in Europe. It was never envisioned, there are no obligations, for extra-European war, not even defensive ones.
3. Every nation in NATO agrees to act under American leadership. But only to achieve the goals previously agreed to. If those goals are now going to be changed and expanded, then the new goals must be negotiated, and consensus reached. There is no obligation to automatically follow the U.S., when the U.S. wants to do things far outside the original scope of the alliance. |
