What is NATO even doing in Afghanistan?
Can you be any further away from the Atlantic?
"NATO was founded after World War II to counter Soviet expansion in Europe"
Then WhyTF they STILL AROUND?
"Obama, NATO chief discuss 2 nations" by Associated Press | March 26, 2009WASHINGTON - President Obama and NATO's chief discussed how to more effectively fight Islamic militants in Afghanistan and achieve Obama's goal of putting US-Russian relations on a stronger footing.
Obama said he hoped yesterday's 45-minute session with Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the upcoming new US plan for Afghanistan would "invigorate" NATO participation in the US-led operation, now in its eighth year....
Obama has emphasized the need for a broader, unified international approach.
He sounds just like George Bush.
Ahead of NATO's summit in early April, the French and German ambassadors said their governments had not been asked to contribute more troops, but said commitment to the fight was solid. "We are prepared to stay as long as necessary," said the French ambassador, Pierre Vimont....
Yeah, NO MATTER WHAT their PEOPLE THINK!!!!!
NATO was founded after World War II to counter Soviet expansion in Europe....
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Of course, we know why they are around: an AVAILABLE OCCUPATION FORCE for the WEST!
And they get TICKED OFF at you when you LEAVE, meaning THEY NEVER INTEND to DEPART -- ever!!!!
See Don't Say No to NATO first!
MADRID - When Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain withdrew Spanish peacekeepers from Iraq in 2004, he got the cold shoulder from former president George W. Bush. So ever since the election of Barack Obama, Zapatero has relished the prospect of working with a US leader with whom he shares not only a birthday but also, in his view, a progressive agenda and a desire to resolve conflict through dialogue.
But Spain's unexpected announcement last week that it would withdraw its troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo has marred the nascent relationship with the Obama administration and raised questions about Spain's reliability as an ally, diplomats and foreign policy specialists say.
The war crimes charges against Israel for the Gaza operation (which is picking up again) didn't help.
Spain informed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and US officials of the decision less than 24 hours before Carme Chacón, the Spanish defense minister, announced it during a visit yesterday to a Spanish military base in Kosovo.
So what? NATO would have complained anyway! This way, the Spainiards don't have to hear it for months.
A State Department spokesman, Robert Wood, said that the United States was "deeply disappointed" by the announcement, an unusually strong reproach to an ally.
Oh, THAT'S CAHNGE for you, huh, Amurkn shit-slurpers?
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the NATO secretary general, also expressed disapproval, saying that any decision to withdraw from the Kosovo force should be made within the alliance, according to news reports.
Even if, "Mission accomplished. It's time to go home?"
Been there TEN YEARS!!!
You get the feeling that NATO is never leaving no matter where it is?
Spain has just over 600 troops stationed in Kosovo as part of the NATO-led force of 15,400 soldiers. But the Spanish government, which is trying to curb regional nationalism in Catalonia and the Basque Country, does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign nation.
The problem, analysts and experts said, was not so much Spain's decision to withdraw troops, as the abrupt way it was announced.WTF is this, JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL?!!!!!!!!!
According to a report in the newspaper El País, Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos was one of several senior diplomats who were unaware of the decision before it became public.
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