Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
February 1, 2008
Pg. 10
By Judy Dempsey
BERLIN — With NATO facing the risk of failure in trying to defeat Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, a group of former senior officers has called for a major overhaul of the alliance, which they say is paralyzed by cumbersome decision-making rules, inequitable financing arrangements and an inability to sustain long-term missions.
The officers’ 152-page report, “Toward a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World,” tries to analyze why NATO has not completed the transformation from a cold war organization to one that they see as capable of dealing with threats in the 21st century.
It will probably ruffle feathers inside NATO, diplomats said, because of its candor and because the authors also call on the alliance to continue its support for nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
The authors, who served together in NATO, are Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, former chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former NATO commander; Adm. Jacques Lanxade, former chief of the Defense Staff of France, Gen. Klaus Naumann, former chief of the Defense Staff of Germany; Field Marshal Peter Inge, former chief of the Defense Staff of Britain; and Gen. Henk van den Breemen, former chief of the Defense Staff of the Netherlands.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s secretary general, has called for a shake-up in the alliance, but a majority of the 26 member states are reluctant either to change the rules on how NATO operates or to increase defense spending.
February 1, 2008
Pg. 10
By Judy Dempsey
BERLIN — With NATO facing the risk of failure in trying to defeat Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, a group of former senior officers has called for a major overhaul of the alliance, which they say is paralyzed by cumbersome decision-making rules, inequitable financing arrangements and an inability to sustain long-term missions.
The officers’ 152-page report, “Toward a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World,” tries to analyze why NATO has not completed the transformation from a cold war organization to one that they see as capable of dealing with threats in the 21st century.
It will probably ruffle feathers inside NATO, diplomats said, because of its candor and because the authors also call on the alliance to continue its support for nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
The authors, who served together in NATO, are Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, former chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former NATO commander; Adm. Jacques Lanxade, former chief of the Defense Staff of France, Gen. Klaus Naumann, former chief of the Defense Staff of Germany; Field Marshal Peter Inge, former chief of the Defense Staff of Britain; and Gen. Henk van den Breemen, former chief of the Defense Staff of the Netherlands.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO’s secretary general, has called for a shake-up in the alliance, but a majority of the 26 member states are reluctant either to change the rules on how NATO operates or to increase defense spending.