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German proposes a European army
International Herald Tribune ^ | 11/06/2006 | Judy Dempsey

Posted on 11/07/2006 12:10:58 AM PST by Republicain

BERLIN: : Kurt Beck, leader of the Social Democrats, called Monday for a European army with a single command, the first time a German political party has proposed such a structure. If adopted, it could lead to the European Union pursuing a security and defense policy independent of NATO.

The proposal was immediately rejected by President Lech Kaczynski of Poland, who said in Vilnius on Monday that the EU should build an army of 100,000 that would remain linked to NATO. Alliance officials said NATO supported the EU playing a greater security and defense role.

In his first major foreign policy speech since becoming leader of a party that is joined in coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc, Beck said Europe should become a "global peace power" with its own military command and goals.

(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: army; europe
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1 posted on 11/07/2006 12:10:58 AM PST by Republicain
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To: Republicain

The EUSSR: coming soon.

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/865


2 posted on 11/07/2006 12:14:01 AM PST by D.P.Roberts
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To: Republicain

Hmm......


3 posted on 11/07/2006 12:14:23 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: Republicain

Do you think that they can agree what colour to make the uniforms?

I have my doubts.


4 posted on 11/07/2006 12:15:42 AM PST by CheyennePress
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To: D.P.Roberts

Good link. Will read later.


5 posted on 11/07/2006 12:16:17 AM PST by kinoxi
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To: Republicain

"Beck said Europe should become a "global peace power" with its own military command and goals."


The European Army, fighting wars by delivering flowers... at no charge!


6 posted on 11/07/2006 12:16:20 AM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: Republicain

So the German want to challenge us again?


7 posted on 11/07/2006 12:18:08 AM PST by John Lenin
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To: PetroniusMaximus

They just want to march in the shade of the Champs d'Elise again...


8 posted on 11/07/2006 12:20:06 AM PST by EternalVigilance ("Don't be a Nancy Boy, Vote Republican!")
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To: Republicain
Holy crap...that's such a bad idea, I can barely fathom it.

What would a European Army fight against?

9 posted on 11/07/2006 12:22:03 AM PST by L.N. Smithee (MSM cries crocodile tears about negative campaigns -- they ARE a negative campaign against the GOP!)
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To: Republicain

Uhhh. Where does that leave NATO and the UN?


10 posted on 11/07/2006 12:23:55 AM PST by Cobra64 (Why is the War on Terror being managed by the DEFENSE Department?)
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To: Republicain; lizol; Grzegorz 246; Lukasz; Rummenigge; Michael81Dus
"...At that time President Jacques Chirac of France; Gerhard Schröder, who was chancellor of Germany, and the leaders of Belgium and Luxembourg, all of whom opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, proposed an EU military headquarters. NATO said that would be a direct threat to the alliance and the trans-Atlantic relationship..."

There appears to be something missing from this story. It seems as if there is some engine, some behind the scenes unnamed force trying to drive an impenetrable wedge between Poland and Germany. Now who would want increased tension between Poland and Germany?

Just hard to figure out... who or what entity would gain from such animosity between Poland and Germany.


11 posted on 11/07/2006 12:36:03 AM PST by bd476
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To: CheyennePress

12 posted on 11/07/2006 12:42:55 AM PST by Sundog (Say a prayer for Westy -- he has been absent too long.)
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To: EternalVigilance
"They just want to march in the shade of the Champs d'Elise again"

If so, they will only do so with muslim permission.

13 posted on 11/07/2006 12:49:10 AM PST by Bonaparte
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To: CheyennePress

"Do you think that they can agree what colour to make the uniforms?"

Same color as their flags, white.....


14 posted on 11/07/2006 12:51:04 AM PST by flaglady47 (thinking out loud)
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To: L.N. Smithee

"What would a European Army fight against?"

Us.


15 posted on 11/07/2006 12:51:50 AM PST by flaglady47 (thinking out loud)
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To: flaglady47
"What would a European Army fight against?"

Us.

Yes, indirectly. A necessary task.

16 posted on 11/07/2006 12:56:47 AM PST by Republicain
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To: Bonaparte

wow dead spot on right


17 posted on 11/07/2006 12:59:51 AM PST by advertising guy
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To: PetroniusMaximus
I believe the real problem with this proposal is inherent in the motive which inspires it.

In Europe where a majority of the people think that the greatest threat to world peace is not Iran but the United States of America, the left is trying to undo America as a superpower. If the left can deconstruct NATO, it can disarm America of one of its apparatus by which it wields power. The left often ask an incremental steps and this is the first baby step in that direction. Look for France to join in with this proposition..

It is chilling to consider that these leftists in Germany and elsewhere in Europe would actively undermine NATO, and American power as expressed through NATO, in the face of Islamic Jihad. Why would they disarm their country and weaken their staunchest ally in the face of mortal danger?

The left has often operated in this fashion, cutting deals with the enemy in time of war to obtain power. Witness Lenin's peace with Germany in 1917, and Mao Tse-tung's treachery with the Japanese during their occupation of China. The Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, wherein Stalin was seduced by his own greed and which precipitated World War II, is of a similar character..

I agree with your quip to the effect that the European army would be feckless but perhaps not forever. The left also has a history of fielding very effective armed forces, witness the Russians in World War II, the North Vietnamese, the Chinese in Korea, and various guerrilla operations, which often obtain their victories, or lease their stalemates, through a ruthless disregard for their own casualties. These kinds of forces, however, are constructed by the left after they have obtained exclusive power..

I see the left as much more dangerous and treacherous than a bunch of muddleheaded, kumbaya- singing, peace- at --any- pricers. I see them as very dedicated but patient neocommunists who wish to obtain universal power in the world. To attain that goal that must destroy America's superpower status and in so doing they are quite willing to court destruction at the hands of Islamo fascism.


18 posted on 11/07/2006 1:02:10 AM PST by nathanbedford ("I like to legislate. I feel I've done a lot of good." Sen. Robert Byrd)
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To: Republicain

Leave it to a German to come up with something like this...just like always, when everything else fails, the Euroweenians always go back to their roots.


19 posted on 11/07/2006 1:06:01 AM PST by WestVirginiaRebel (Common sense will do to liberalism what the atomic bomb did to Nagasaki-Rush Limbaugh)
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To: Republicain
Personally I think it's time for the US to let Europe go, and a European Self Defense Force is a good idea.
20 posted on 11/07/2006 1:06:37 AM PST by Lancer_N3502A
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