tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post4655308034450412670..comments2024-03-16T09:11:27.097-04:00Comments on GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD: "Blunt Reality"GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09760252542953109449noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6719362718346107647.post-80526944729369659102011-06-13T07:21:55.741-04:002011-06-13T07:21:55.741-04:00Overt support for military actions is one thing. ...Overt support for military actions is one thing. Tactic support and agreement is another. What we have seen from much of Europe has been tacit support trending to overt support for both Iraq and Afghanistan, from both 'old' and 'new' Europe. <br /><br />The most significant aspect of the tacit support we receive is that the basing rights we have in Europe is the single largest enabler of OEF there is. If you look at the logistics chain extending from the US into Afghanistan it does not go across the Pacific and into Afghanistan. Rather, it crosses the Atlantic, Europe into the Middle East and into Central Asia. The first stop for severely wounded Service Members leaving Afghanistan or Iraq is in Germany. The only alternative to Pakistan we have for bringing material into Afghanistan is through Russia. <br /><br />Granted there is much to be said about how much actual war fighting support we receive from our allies. But, this does not mean that one should ignore the contributions already made. In ages prior to this, such tacit support were grounds for war being declared. <br /><br />While I do agree with the SECDEF that major reforms are going to be required by our allies in terms of their military. I also recognize that there is an additional cause for such rhetoric beyond it being a 'blunt reality'. America is seeing the limits of our strategic abilities. We cannot commit to Europe as we have in the past as well as commit to Asia as the future may well demand. The fiscal crisis we're in is making as much very clear. Anything the SECDEF is saying to our allies is based upon that reality as much as it is any other.H. Lucien Gauthier IIIhttp://blog.usni.orgnoreply@blogger.com