Secretary of Defense Blasts NATO

In one of his last addresses before he retires as Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates blasted NATO for its inadequate defense capabilities. The Defense Secretary said Friday that NATO's sometimes shaky air campaign in Libya had "laid bare" the shortcomings of the alliance, which he said was facing "collective military irrelevance" after years of inadequate defense spending by most of its members.

Too often member nations sit on the sidelines, not because they don't want to assist in Libya, but because they lack the resources to do so. Few countries have spent money on aircraft and other systems that deliver intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, which are critical to the air war in Libya.

After months of conducting a military campaign in Libya, against a poorly armed country that is sparsely populated, many countries are running out of munitions, and yet again are requiring the U.S. to make up the difference.

"Despite 2 million troops in uniform, not counting the U.S. military, NATO has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of 25,000 to 45,000 troops in Afghanistan, not just with boots on the ground, but in crucial support assets such has helicopters, transport aircraft, maintenance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and much more," Gates said.

Europe wants to be consulted and be part of the solution, but they are becoming irrelevant in military matters. As China becomes more of a threat to U.S. interests, a possible reallocation of resources from Europe to Asia may be down the road.

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