– NATO...Are Its Final Days Just Ahead

NATO Has Lost Its Relevance
Hassan Tahsin -Arab News

It seems the Western countries are already afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, as they manifest such memory loss that usually comes with geriatric dementia.

I say this because of the issues raised by the substantial changes in NATO’s main objectives as if the world had forgotten what the alliance was made for.

As far as I can remember, NATO was founded in 1949 by a pact led by the United States and signed by 12 countries. Today it comprises 26 European countries, and it is still seen as a political and military alliance.

When established 55 years ago its main objective was to encounter the growing influence of the former Soviet Union. The pact was also intended to challenge the positions that emerged after World War II and later became known as the Cold War. Hence, NATO was the deterrence shield against the Warsaw Pact founded by the Soviet Union to perpetuate communism in Eastern Europe.

Ultimately, NATO’s mission was to protect Western Europe from any Communist invasion that could come from the Eastern block, and to stop the Communist tide that once threatened to sweep the old continent.

Communism has now become obsolete. The Soviet Union is now history. Russia is trying to join the European Union despite its wanting to maintain the nuclear arsenal inherited from the Soviet era.

Warsaw Pact collapsed and its countries are queuing up to join EU or NATO. This means that the reasons for which NATO was established have became invalid. Still NATO is growing in military prowess with no specific objectives that can justify its existence.

Nevertheless, in many instances NATO failed to help any European country unless such a country got the US backing. The best examples are Bosnia and Kosovo. These two helpless nations were intentionally left to face their tragic fate when US obstructed any possible NATO intervention. Under NATO’s umbrella the US attacked the Serbs once again reaffirming the fact that without Washington Europe is incapable of doing anything. As a result, France and Germany took the initiative to form a European bridge independent of NATO.

Setting a precedent, Washington applied pressure on NATO countries to contribute to the occupation in Afghanistan. Washington realized that it couldn’t maintain its occupation without heavy losses and risks unless there was European backing.

As NATO is trapped in Afghanistan, the European countries refused to go to war in Iraq. Europe rejected all the reasons advanced by Washington to justify its aggression. America and Britain went to war alone; European participation was just symbolic so as not to upset the Americans. They agreed to train a number of Iraqi officers when Iraqis in fact need no such training. Iraqi officers were at war for several years, and they are known for the experience they acquired.

Given all this, we may ask why NATO should remain a military alliance when none of its members faces any threat.

After Sept. 11, the US got NATO cloaked in a new shroud, and set new goals for the organization: Fighting terrorism. In its summit in Istanbul in June 2004, the US introduced an Istanbul Cooperative Initiative, which is of course a step toward the greater Middle East initiative.

As we learn about the new NATO and its new goals, we also learn about its change from a defensive grouping into a new “world cop.” In doing so, NATO gives itself roles and rights that are exclusively within the jurisdiction of the United Nations and the Security Council.

All the initiatives launched by NATO will be of no avail, as NATO’s image and reputation in the Middle East are totally negative. Particularly this is the case after its racist attitude toward the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Further, the new role plainly gives NATO the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries, ostensibly to protect “world peace and security”.

Is Europe willing to lose the Middle East and forsake its interests in this part of the world just to please the US?

It is time Europe looked to its own interests before it was too late.