It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Originally posted by mr_albest
With the US military operating at maximum peace time capacity battling insurgents in Iraq and hunting Bin Laden in Afghanistan, the task of battling the Taliban in Afghanistan has fallen largely on NATO.
The Canadian's seem to be doing an admirable job of this, but they are underpowered and European nations seem unwilling or unable to commit larger numbers. They do have fair reasons, the Italians and French have just commited to a Lebanon force, Germany's military is not an effective fighting force due to constitutional issues, and the UK has large numbers in Iraq.
But would the story be different if the EU had a military of its own, their economy and population compare to the US, but yet the US can have over a hundred thousand soldiers operating on the other side of the world while NATO struggles to bring together over ten thousand in Afghanistan.
And now the UN is trying to put together a force for Darfur, who will be able commit to this?
I live in Australia and we have plans to create two new infantry brigades in order to cope with the demands in our region and the middle east, and Japan seems on its way to revising it constitution to allow it to better assist in peace-keeping/nation-building efforts. But these are long term programs. Is it perhaps time for China to use its massive military to take some slack off Western nations?
How could the world respond if another crisis where to occur that demanded a significant military force, we seem to be in a precarious position.
What are your thoughts on this?
Originally posted by mr_albest
With the US military operating at maximum peace time capacity battling insurgents in Iraq and hunting Bin Laden in Afghanistan, the task of battling the Taliban in Afghanistan has fallen largely on NATO.
The Canadian's seem to be doing an admirable job of this, but...