Posted on 04/30/2003 8:41:20 AM PDT by Norm640
'Old Europe' presses ahead with plans for an EU army By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels (Filed: 30/04/2003)
"Old Europe" threw down the gauntlet at the feet of Britain, the United States and the Atlantic Alliance at a mini-summit yesterday, unveiling plans for a new Euro-army with its own military headquarters.
Jacques Chirac: rebuked Tony Blair for advocating a 'one polar world' France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg - described by some in the US as the "Axis of Weasel" - vowed to press ahead with a full-fledged defence union, brushing aside warnings that the move would entrench the European Union's bitter divisions over Iraq and could lead to the break-up of Nato.
A new rapid reaction force would be built around the existing Franco-German brigade, taking in Belgian commandos and units from Luxembourg. It would answer to a headquarters in the Brussels suburb of Tervuren and be ready for joint operations next year.
Jacques Chirac, the French president, insisted that the plans would bolster Nato by making Europe a more credible partner for Washington, and denied there was an attempt to set up a rival to Nato's operational command. "The aim is not to decouple European Union and Atlantic Alliance defence efforts," he said.
But M Chirac gave out mixed signals when he gently rebuked Tony Blair for advocating a "one polar world" and warning of a new Cold War if Europe tried to become a rival power to America.
"Quite naturally a multi-polar world is being created, whether one likes it or not. It's inevitable. For balance to exist, there will have to be a strong Europe. Relations between the European Union and the United States will have to be a partnership between equals," said M Chirac.
He invited all 25 of the EU's current and future states to join the new defence core, but the so-called New Europe camp - led by Britain, Spain, Italy and Poland - has reacted with deep suspicion. Ana Palacio, the Spanish foreign minister, said the proposals were "counter-productive" and would cause needless division at a delicate time.
Nato came close to buckling earlier this year when France, Belgium and Germany refused to sanction delivery of Patriot missiles to Turkey, a fellow member. A Nato spokesman reacted cautiously to the new plans yesterday, saying he was "concerned about the risk of unnecessary duplication".
The four leaders called for the creation of a "European Command for strategic air transport" by 2004. The new force would have to rely on US airlift or leased Ukrainian planes until the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft was ready for service later in the decade.
There will be a "joint European protection capability" against weapons of mass destruction, a tactical training centre for pilots and helicopter crews, and an "EU-FAST" emergency relief unit for humanitarian crises.
Separately, the group have proposed a European weapons procurement agency and a "solidarity clause" binding EU states to face all forms of risk together as elements to be included in the new European constitution.
It was unclear how the new machinery would fit into the EU's existing defence structure. Brussels already has a rapid reaction force, and military staff, which can draw on up to 60,000 personnel from member states. It began its first mission in Macedonia last month. But it is limited to peacekeeping and relies on Nato operational command.
While superficially similar, the new force is a different animal. It will be a fully-integrated Euro-army, and seems intended for combat in the future.
The picture is further confused by the parallel defence plans agreed by Mr Blair and M Chirac at Le Touquet in February calling for a joint Anglo-French aircraft carrier battle group.
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Secondly, and even more frighteningly, they are forming their own EU army to track down and arrest folks indicted by the International Criminal Court, which means that they will be going on political witch hunts against US soldiers overseas (indeed, that's why the ICC was created in the first place--to destroy US hegemony in the world and create its own).
Either way, such an action will mean that in the future there will be a standoff between the US and the EU, a military one, and, if the past is any guide, Europe will decide to launch another world war. After all, and ironically, the old arrogance and 'nationalism' (EU nationalism) is back. All we need now is an enemy--oops, got that one too.
Europeans are as predictable as they are repugnant.
Dream on, froggie..............
These people are living in what the Germans call 'Scharaffenland' - rough translation: Cloud-Coo-Coo- Land.
It is time to start selling cars, appliances, and electronics to the third world and let them have a good standard of living, too. My hope for those people in Iraq is that they should have a refrigerator with cool water in the door, rather than lining up for "humanitarian aid" which brings water to them from firehoses.
Sounds formidable.
China-Asia, United States vs European Union-Arab World, my headliner for 2012. The European Union will go down in three, only after they set off a few nuclear devices in cargo containers and claim it was not them.
Canada will announce their plan to enter the fray about two years after it's over. They will need that much time to get their Sea King helicopters fixed and equip an effective fighting force. Their crack covert guys will be on our side as usual though from day one. All 200 of them.
Yeah, I'm shaking in my boots.
Rhode Island could whip these losers....
No nation or group of nations will ever invade America by conventional forces. We are the most armed bunch of yahoo's in the world. It would be suicide except for New York, SanFrancisco, and Berkley. They are fully disarmed and are prime invasion beaches.
Nope.....Any threat to America comes from WMD's as smuggled biologicals or as nuc's hidden in shipping containers.
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