US Defense Secretary Gates Warns NATO that America Will not Pay the Bill Forever

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates ended his farewell tour, before leaving office, in Europe on Friday. It was there that he made the biggest “waves” by telling America’s European NATO partners that it is time to “put up or shut up,” as an ordinary American might say.

His point was that the United States has paid the bills for the North Atlantic Alliance since it was formed after the Second World War. This means, according to estimates I’ve seen, that of the current US$220 Billion annual NATO budget, America pays about US$175 Billion. And, Gates said, even when the Europeans take charge of a problem, as in Libya, they run out of munitions and the USA has to provide them.

Gates said the American Congress and taxpayers have little appetite for continuing to support the Alliance almost alone, adding that this generation of Americans has no personal memory of World War II and may not fully see the importance of paying for NATO. He warned that if European members do not shoulder their responsibilities, the Alliance could become moribund.

Observers note that some European members, Germany notably, have not contributed anything in Libya. Germany denied this forcefully after Gates’ speech, saying that it contributes heavily to the support of NATO.

NATO’s Secretary General’s office agreed with Gates, issuing a statement saying that there is a long-time gap in member budget support.

A European think tank said the speech showed ignorance about recent European budget cuts. But, in London the Royal United Services Institute said that Gates delivered a speech that Europe needs to hear.

Gates said that NATO could turn into “a two-tiered alliance between members who specialize in ‘soft’ humanitarian, development, peacekeeping and talking tasks and those conducting the ‘hard’ combat missions — between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership” without paying for it.

He said that it is not too late to turn things around.

London’s Royal United Services Institute said the speech would be “very welcome” in Britain and France because “privately this is what officials have articulated for years,” saying that Gates “identified the key problem, which remains Germany. You can argue that there are many countries that do not contribute their fair share, but most of the others don’t matter, and smaller ones would likely fall into line if Germany did.”

Dear readers, my viewpoint is simple. The truth is that there is no unified European military capability. There is one aircraft carrier (French) and one planned (French and British shared). There are no adequately equipped air forces except for France and Britain. There is no unified ground force. This, despite the fact that NATO’s European members spend US$300 Billion per year on defense. But, without coordination and smarter planning and spending, Europe could not, for example, go to war successfully, if required to defend its own territories.

So, readers, let us see how Germany reacts to Gates’ rebuke. My guess is that it will be with silence and apathy, because it knows, and Europe knows, that it will not be tossed to the wolves, should the day of reckoning arrive. And, worse, Germany is on the side of the majority of Europeans, thinking that with the end of the Cold War, there is no security threat to European territory. Let us hope that the view proves to be right.