Viewpoint: Europe alone

Viewpoint: Europe alone
By Jason Moore

Joe Biden is making Donald Trump look good, I heard a Spanish colleague say this week and in Spain, like most places, Trump is about as popular as working on a bank holiday.

The U.S. President bodly proclaimed at the G7 summit earlier this year that America was back but already he has damaged relations with Europe and elsewhere with his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. But he did make a point which is certainly food for thought; if Europe feels so strongly about Afghanistan why did it also pull its troops out?

This is a rather below the belt comment because Europe went into Afghanistan to support the U.S. but Biden is right, the European nations could have stayed. But Biden knows full well that Europe doesn´t have the military clout to stand on its own. Air power is key and Europe can only muster a few squadrons of aircraft. It is the sad truth that without the U.S. Europe has no teeth.

Biden´s comment doesn´t say much for the future of NATO either; I thought it was a question of all-for-one and one-for-all but not in Afghanistan so it seems. Perhaps it is time to raise the issue of the European army once again. Obviously this military force should not be connected in any way to the European Union but it needs to have the necessary resources so that it can stand alone.

Aircraft are key from fast jets to transport planes and helicopters. If Europe wants to be taken seriously it must have a capable miliytary. There is an important role for Britain in this force eventhough it has left the European Union., Biden said it and Europe needs to take note; the U.S.will act alone.





August 23, 2021 at 02:16PM
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