Speaking today at the National Defense University, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates condemned European nations in general for their refusal to contribute larger portions of their population to NATO.
Gates warned that Europe’s aversion to war was doing serious harm to assorted US military operations with NATO backing, and was therefore “an impediment” to the lasting peace he envisions those wars eventually creating.
Gates’ comments appeared to be directed in part at the Netherlands, who saw its government collapse this weekend after NATO pressure to continue its commitment to the Afghan War led antiwar members of the government to withdraw.
He said that the “demilitarization of Europe” was a long-term, systemic problem for NATO, and that the European members of NATO needed to increase their military spending to NATO mandated levels.
It burns! War, the precioius, of the worlds(particularly US) rulers.
Gates should imitate Groucho Marx in Duck's Soup: Heidy Ho, War, etc." I am so ill from watching these sociopaths slaughter innocent people in an illegal war. The political dirt bags on the Hill are venal and conscienceless. The Military and the Defense Industry have taken control.
Sinclair Lewis said, "When fascisim comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross."
Why do these slobs obfuscate and not tell the truth that Wall Street and the Military Complex have got the citizens by the balls and tough shit. Americans are extremely slow on the on the uptake because they focus eight hours a day watching television. Gee, I wonder they ever get a chance at taking time to read Star Magazine.
Europeans suffered tens of millions of dead from wars in the 20th centure and moron Gates is surprised Europeans have an aversion to war?
BINGO…!!!
Someone should demilitarize the USA. It would do Americans a lot of good. As for Europe, it has little interest in playing "posse" to Washington's self-declared role of global "sheriff".
Gates: European Aversion to War a Danger to Peace
Also"
Up is Down
Good is Bad
Black is White
Hot is Cold
Right is Left
and for Gates – Mad is Sane
Gates: European Aversion to War a Danger to Peace.
Damn, if that doesn't seal the deal on what these neocons are then nothing ever will. That is virtually identical to Orwell's description in Newspeak:
War is Peace.
Khazars are Semites
Robert Gates stick NATO in your ars and take your own family for that war.
EU out of NATO and damd Israël and the USA.
Robert Gates go to hell and come never back!
Gates is just shilling for the wepoans industry in the US. With the US economy in the tank, he's eitehr trying to earn brownie points with Lockheed Martin, or been given orders to go out and do some marketing for them, albeit in a novel way.
Well it seems to be working, everyone is buying US made military equipment all around the globe. Except for Europe as they have their own military weapons industries.
Well it seems to be working, everyone is buying US made military equipment all around the globe. Except for Europe as they have their own military weapons industries.
Lasting peace? That would be after the 'Long War'.
Gates should be educated enough to realize that America's 'preparedness' has led it to be involved, to some extent, in every outbreak of war since the last time it sought 'lasting peace'…. including all the 'biggies'.
There's no sense keeping a war machine if you're not going to use it. His obvious ignorance is no recommendation.
"Armies for the preservation of peace do not exist; they exist only for the triumphant exertion of war."
Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf
Those damn Europeans need to be taken to Room 101 until they learn that War is Peace!
The world needs to know Gates does NOT speak for everyone in the U.S.
No just the elected Government, actually the last two elected government's.
Someone call the men that wear those really nice white coats and carry those really large nets. Gates is insane and needs be corralled. So when you have utter lunatics at the controls of the U.S. military, we could be in some serious trouble.
GW put Bush Seniors man at the helm. Ahhh…. the ties that bind. The family that wars together whores together.
I cannot believe that this person, who is one of the biggest war mongers which I know of, speaks about "lasting peace he envisons"! None off these wars were for defensive reasons! These were all brutal aggressions with the global strategy to encircle Russia and China! Since the dismantling of the Russian empire I consider the US and Israel as the axes of evil. In 1990 there was a wonderful chance when Germany should have left the criminal NATO. Unfortunately, the Kohl government was too corrupt (and obviously Gorbachov too, otherwise he would have insisted on that). I hope Europeans get together and leave the Americans alone in Afghanistan! It is in the interest of the US only to be there! Europeans should think about the future and not get involved in those crimes. W.
"Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war is senseless and useless."
Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf
By "lasting peace" he actually means "unchallenged American global hegemony".
So Gates thinks that the way to "lasting peace" is through endless war? I suppose he is right if he is talking about the peace of the grave. However, his whole entire premise is an oxymoron and only a psychopathic moron would propose it. I would hope that the European ruling establishment would come to its senses and would reject this kind of gross stupidity, but I have my doubts. As for the lying, thieving and murdering American ruling establishment ever coming to its senses and rejecting a national policy of endless war, forget it, they're nothing but a criminal gang of confirmed and certified lunatics.
America will not be satisfied until, like Rome, she has more enemies and more wars than she can survive. So Mister Gates we European had our share of wars in the past and are kindly asking you to shovel these wars up yours, you know what I mean you moron.
Follow the money.
Yep, you got that right. That is the one thing that could make someone like Gates make an unmitigated ass of themselves.
1- To those of you that praising some of the Europeans country such as Holland for not willing to support the Afghan war. In principal it is a good idea however the Afghan war has become a internal opportunity between political parties who are building the present government or are about to build the new ones…, here.., referring to elections that are due to take place in few months, at the same time EU or European Union and its main idea is about Europe to become a power where it can face the US and its militarism power. In the political and economical part of the idea, the Europe wants to have its share secured and therefore cooperating with US and its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the same time Europe have investments placed in wherever the US economical interested is placed.., in Iraq which is the Shell Royal Dutch (Holland) Oil company which is connected to the BP the British petroleum so as the Norwegian Oil company and etc, the Swedes and other small countries also have invested in Kuwait Oil which is the main oil supplier to Sweden and Etc.
2- These leftist or if you will communist elites lately have discovered that it is not in their internal political interests to “support” these wars therefore for last year or so and all of the sudden they have opposed the war labeling it as the American war, although it is true and Iraq Afghan war started by America and its militarism regime yet the very same political parties and after 30 years in supporting the Iranian Islamic regime, Saddam Hussein and other dictatorial regime all of the sudden have changed their views and just before the upcoming elections don’t want to participate cooperating with a government which they helped to build in first place….? This is nothing but a opportunism in making and in general when these wars are over.., if ever.., People in Middle East needs to face a new biased EU which is nothing but a cloned America with its “Democratic” approach with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown or the Swedish Communism and Social democrats where the homeless people in Stockholm live with rats under the bridges in their blazing cold as we speak. I mean if there is a democracy then it should start at home where the principals in democracy would take care of its own people.. or…?
Much stupid bullshit here, but could I just point out that Sweden has had a right-wing government since 2006. And that there certainly are more homeless people living with rats under bridges in for instance the USA than in Stockholm.
So how does one support the anti war parties in the Netherlands? Which parties are they? Do they take donations from US nationals?
There are no real antiwar parties in the Netherlands, except perhaps the SP (Socialist Party) who have been the only ones consistently against supporting wars. This a party which would be totally inthinkable in the US.
The funny thing is that the most vocal group against continuing the Nato mission are the followers of Geert Wilders, who's a neocon's neocon when it comes to Israel, but on entirely secular grounds. These people are by no stretch of the imagination anti war for in the same sentence they would demand the withdrawal of Dutch troops from Afghanistan they beg for the carpet bombing of Tehran. And they utterly fail to see any irony in that even if you'd slowly explained what's so funny about the joke to them.
So it's a bit more complicated and far less hopeful than might seem from the surface.
At least Wilders is on to something about stopping muslim immigration to the Netherlands. It does nothing to make the Dutch safe or better off.
How did this guy ever get past freshman lit in college? Critical Thinking? Jesus, Mary and Joseph – who the heck gave this character a college degree?
It's getting a little tired and it's painfully obvious but I'll put it up there:
War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength
Freedom is Slavery
Eric Blair, "1984"
Painfully obvious only to the (at least) semi-literate and/or semi-conscious, apparently.
(I do wonder how long it will be before they find a way to ban that book.)
Aversion to war a danger to peace? It's like macabre humor at its best and this guy doesn't even realize it. How far off the beam do you really have to be to make a serious statement like that? Sign this man up for the next Nobel Peace Prize…Kissinger, Obama, Gates the twisted trifecta!
That Gates was held over from the Bush administration and is still part of the O'Bush administration 13 months later should tell you everything you need to know about Barak O'Bush's commitment to "change."
The USA has the most dangerous, war-loving, murderous government on Earth. What other government has involved itself in even half of the wars and military operations that the US' has over the last 60 years? IT IS ALL DRIVEN BY MEGALOMANIA AND CORPORATE GREED. Gates' call for the newest NATO members to increase spending is a sales job for the military-industrial complex. They'll reward him later with a big-paying lobbyist/sales rep job.
Gates doesn't envision peace, unless he's talking about the peace of a completely subjugated world. EU countries need to ask themselves why they signed on for an association for mutual defense and found themselves roped into a program of world conquest?
Hope and change now seem to equal War is Peace. With statements like that there is no doubt the lunatics are in charge
Don't you just deplore those who won't fight big oil's wars for peace to extract the wealth of others..!!??
Just updating my saying.. 1 and 2.. Most of these communists and Social Democrats are those who worked with the Iranian regime up to few years ago.., although Marx.., Lenin and Stalinist communism labeling religious as a social narcotics, yet then as now they did find the moment of opportunity collecting members of Iranians who are a political asylum in Holland, England, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Belgium and other part of Europe. The present Swedish “communist party” for example have changed its emblem so many times for last 20 years that now only the alphabet V which stands for Vänster translated to Left represents the party, they are basically what is called the modernized reformist which has nothing to do with any ideology or communism practical understanding, so is the fact with the Dutch and other Europeans communists parties, therefore, people are not fooled by the fact and been rejecting them for years…, the eastern European countries that are member in EU is another example and I think this is the reason behind them looking forward to build new governments cooperating with Social Democrats and other right-wingers even if it takes them to lie to people about their ideas, the communists parties in Europe, they lie just to get to be there otherwise alone they and their allies the social democrats and green parties would never be able to build any kind of government. In the other hand the same scenario applies for the rightwing of all kinds in Europe.