Originally posted by: jjones
Originally posted by: SnapIT
Originally posted by: jjones
Originally posted by: SnapIT
Originally posted by: charrison
It is without doubt that the France/Germany wants the EU to be a power. But this will not happen just because they say they are. This will take significant spending to create a force to rival ours. I dont know that the socialist EU can afford such a force.
First of all, the EU isn't socialistic, its a mixed-economy wich is more capitalistic than socialistic (goes more or less for all countries in the "old-europe")...
Secondly, the EU is mostly a trade and economy Union, very few countries in the EU would be willing to be a part of a defence union...
I think the EU eventually will be forced to become a military union as well. Face it, as the EU grows it will have to project military strength to protect its interests. The old reliance upon NATO, I think, will be in severe decline and as the US has to grapple with the growing economics in Europe, it certainly will be looking out for its own interests rather than those of the EU. As far as I know, every lasting economic power in history has had the military might to back it up.
Why would it have to have a united military strenght to protect it's interests? Which nation poses a threat to Europe today or in the forseeable future?
NATO is crippled mostly because the opposing power from the Warsaw-pact is gone, so there is no longer a need for NATO...
Because without a military force to back it up, EU diplomacy is just so much gas. As has just been witnessed worldwide, the US didn't give more than a second thought to what certain members of the EU wanted. The EU had certain interests in keeping Saddam in power and without a viable military, those interests get easily brushed to the wayside.
I'm not saying the EU would ever fight with the US but if it did have a military force backing a unified foreign policy, you can bet the US would have not taken actions without a great deal more consideration.
Like in this instance, when Britian, Spain, and Italy supported our position? This issue has divided the Eu pretty deeply, what was supposed to be a show of unified support and demonstrate the collective weight of a Unified Europe as a viable and equally powerfull possible counterposition to US international policy did exactly the opposite. It did not help the major dissenters were knee deep in illegal and profitable activity with Iraq, their duplicity has been noted by their fellow members.
What would have happened in this case? We would have gotten British, Italian, Polish and Spanish forces, probably more of the little countries, the French would have surrenedered Paris to the Germans, who couldn't take advantage because they have no military, and Russia would have had to borrow money from us to send theirs. You do realize 40% of foreign capital going into France is American? We could cause a flat out recession right there with barely a blip on our economy, Italian, British, Polish, Aussie and Spanish markets can help pick up the difference on our end, we can give them some abatements on import taxes.....
BabyBaliDoc, China will not become a true superpower for DECADES, by which time they will probably fall to democracy hopefully. Their military is so far behind ours it's not even funny, let me give you one example to clear this up.
The chineese do not even have the air or boat lift capability to re-enact our Normandy landing in ww2.
During ww2 one of Japans most important factories (airplane engines ) was attempted to be destroyed by the US, we flew almost 800 sorties on that target alone, we lost 1 in 3 bombers back then when we had to fly right over the target. It never was destroyed, prolonging the war immensely.
A single stealth bomber can take 6 factories that size out on ONE mission from 2,000 miles away today. Get the picture, they are at our pre ww2 levels, and you see the advancements we have made since then.
The EU should be gratefull we have not followed the examples they have laid out in history, maybe that is the cause of their fear, their past inability to NOT use their status of being a superpower to colonize and expand their empires.