Current Event Report #1
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates admits that NATO is facing a “dim, if not dismal” future due to the lack of support from many European members. During his final policy speech as the Pentagon chief on June 10th, he said that U.S. is expending more and more funds as many other members of NATO are “unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defence.”
U.S. was one of the first members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) along with Canada, and other 10 countries. It took lead in founding the organization in 1949. At the speech, Gates blamed some NATO allies for willing to let American taxpayers to pay more when the allies were reducing defence budgets. However, Gates appreciated the combat power provided by Denmark and Norway, and he applauded to Canada and Belgium for the effort they put in Libya. The speech reminded me of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War, where U.S. was angry of Canada not supporting them, but now the Canada-U.S. relationship apparently had a lot of improvement in the presence. Different from the Cold War time, U.S. is not angry at Canada anymore, but it is not happy with the lack of support from Europe.