Defense and Debt
NATO Leaders Focus on Funding in Chicago
The timing could not have been worse. Just as the heads of state and government from NATO's 28 member states were assembling in front of Chicago's football stadium on the shores of Lake Michigan for a group photo, thunder began booming over the city as a storm rolled in. (THE "TIMING" could not have been worse? I'd suggest it is a message from the Lord God Almighty advising them that there are powers with far more destructive force available to be unleashed by the universe than the military might of NATO. When God speaks, we can choose to listen, or not; we can choose to marginalize His prophets, or not; we can rebuke our old (wrongful, hurtful, murderous ways of doing things, or we can continue the same course of action we have elected to take; one of these paths leads to peace, and with it, properity for the poor and the down-trodden -- the other path leads to even more riches accruing the most powerful, the ones who gain much from the waging of war to exploit other nations' resources -- but it also leads to a quirky sense of uneasiness amongst the power elites who choose to cling to the status quo -- they sense, and rightfully so, that one day THE MASSES will organize, rise up, and come to impale them on stakes, as the French peoples have twice done. It could happen, perhaps in my lifetime, God willing, and the people ready to die to make the world a more just place.)Quickly, President Barack Obama's team switched to plan B and moved everyone into the conference room instead. Host Obama stood on the red carpet surrounded by his guests. "Wave," he said. And they did. (And the well trained lap poodles waved.)
It was designed to be an image of harmony. Everyone together. That is the message that Obama wants to send from this NATO summit, the largest ever. The US president, after all, is in the middle of a tough re-election campaign (This is a crock of such shit that my eyes are turning brown reading it. TOUGH RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN my ass. The Republicans HAVE NOT MANAGED TO RUN A VIABLE CANDIDATE, and, with the economy having improved (except for the part about the joblessness, and for inflation of energy and food prices, and the crum;bling of infrastructure, and the soon-to-burst bubble in the costs of higher education) the business community is DEE-FUCKING-LIGHTED with his majesty, Barack Obama, the annointed one, the friendly not quite caucasian face at the alleged leadership bow of the presently sinking and leaking even more water Titanic otherwise known as the U.S. "free market, capitalist, enterprise system." The last things to go will the the illusions clung to by the elites, and by the wanna be elites whose lives are comfortable beyond description. They will continue to believe whatever it is Rupert Murdoch tells FAUX NEWS and the WALL SHEEIT JOURNAL'S editorial page writers wants them to believe.) and the summit, located in Obama's hometown of Chicago, was designed to give him a boost.
But Obama faced battles on several fronts over the weekend. For one, he faces the possibility of lasting friction with Russia after NATO on Sunday declared its European missile shield to have reached "interim capability," an important step on the road to full coverage planned for 2018. The shield is to protect Europe from possible attacks from countries like Iran, (IN other words, countries that will NEVER attack European nations and that will never attack America. Yes, I always want to spend a fortune to defend myself from so-called "enemies" who will never raise one finger to hurt me. So much easier to sleep easier when you've gone about creating demons to fear, and fears become us; we are a VERY fearful people (most likely because we know we are the only ones to have dropped an atomic bomb on anyone, and we keep thinking there will be retribution; of COURSE, there will be retribution, just not retirubtion in like kind)) but Russia views the weapons system as a limitation of its own nuclear deterrence and has thus sought for years to prevent its completion.
Afghanistan too is a significant focus of the summit, which continues on Monday. When he was elected four years ago, Obama promised that he would bring the war against the Taliban to an end. (This should have been the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. JUST STOP FIGHTING THEM! Bring the troops home. End of war. If you wish, I am sure there are some, if not many professional historians whom you can pay to write learned treatises on the winning of the war in Afghanistan, and thus, with the imprimature of unquestioned scholars supporting the conclusions of Rupert Murdoch, FAUX News, et al, one can erase history, send it packing down the memory hole, and create a whole new mythology which supports the initial decision to go and wage destruction and murder on the poor Afghani people!) Some 1,900 American soldiers have lost their lives in the decade-long fight and the mission costs US taxpayers $100 billion (€78 billion) each year.
Key Question
It is a bill that the White House would like to significantly reduce. And it would also like more help from alliance partners in keeping NATO up and running as well. (RIDDLE ME THIS, BATMAN: WHY?) Indeed, with European governments having reduced their military budgets continually since the end of the Cold War, the US share of NATO financing has grown to 75 percent. Now that the debt crisis has put additional pressures on both Europeans and Americans to slash expenditures, alliance funding is the key question underlying the meeting.
Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates hinted at the brewing frustration in Washington a year ago. "The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the US Congress -- and in the American body politic writ large -- to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense," Gates said in his final policy speech as head of the Pentagon last June.
Obama seeks to cut US defense expenditures by $500 billion over the next 10 years. Furthermore, should the Democrats and Republicans in Congress not be able to reach a deficit reduction deal by the end of this year, automatic cuts would be triggered in January 2013 which would result in a further $500 billion being withheld from the Pentagon in the next decade.
In a guest commentary for the Chicago Tribune, Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican challenger in November presidential elections, accused the president of weakening the NATO alliance. "The administration's irresponsible defense cuts are clearing the way for our partners to do even less," Romney wrote. "An alliance not undergirded by military strength and US leadership may soon become an alliance in name only."
'Smart Defense'
Obama, for his part, sought to demonstrate strength despite potential funding shortfalls. "In these difficult economic times, we can work together and pool our resources," Obama said during the summit. "NATO is a force multiplier, and the initiatives we will endorse today will allow each of our nations to accomplish what none of us could achieve alone."
The message is clear. The US is no longer prepared to be the alliance's military backstop -- as the only member state with requisite weapons systems. Instead, the idea is to develop common military systems and defense products. NATO refers to the concept as "Smart Defense." Just how it might work -- more military clout for less money -- remains to be seen however.
At issue are some 20 projects, ranging from the acquisition of helicopters to joint command headquarters. The plan known as "Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS)," for example, foresees the purchase of five drones from the US at a total price of €1 billion. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen pledged in Chicago that alliance leaders had approved "a robust package of more than 20 multinational projects to provide the capabilities we need at a price we can afford."
Underneath the surface, however, it becomes clear that harmony is not universal when it comes to these joint projects. Seventeen countries, for example, signed onto the AGS project back in 2007. Since then, however, four have backed out after defense budgets were slashed back home. Germany is one of the countries that remains committed to the project, but the more alliance partners back out, the more expensive it becomes for Berlin and the others who remain. Furthermore, Germany's signature to the project was conditional and parliament in Berlin has yet to approve the funding.
Pressure on Berlin
Meanwhile, NATO has upped the pressure on Germany to increase its commitment to the alliance by reducing the amount of say the parliament in Berlin has when it comes to NATO missions overseas. Currently, any foreign military mission involving German troops needs the approval of Germany's parliament, the Bundestag. But that also means that, should parliament withhold such approval, the effectiveness of joint NATO weapons systems dependent on German technicians is significantly reduced.
The Brussels-based alliance is now pressuring Berlin to reduce the amount of say parliament has when it comes to NATO missions. Alliance leaders point out that the deployment of joint weapons systems cannot be made dependent on the approval of a single nation's parliament. Berlin will have little choice but to at least consider the request, to avoid isolation within the alliance.
The real success of the NATO summit, however, will be decided on Monday. That is when member-state leaders are to address the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan and its consequences. Only then will it become clear whether the summit will provide Obama with the hoped-for boost to his re-election campaign.
