President Bush spoke in Croatia today about what he thinks a 21st Century NATO should do:
ZAGREB, Croatia — Addressing new NATO allies in a medieval town square here, President Bush on Saturday championed the alliance’s expansion across all of Europe and compared the liberation of Eastern European nations from communism to the American-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The people of this region know what the gift of liberty means,” Mr. Bush said, highlighting NATO’s decision on Thursday to invite Croatia and Albania as new members of the 26-nation alliance.
“You know the death and destruction that can be caused by the followers of radical ideologies,” he went on before several thousand people who received tickets to attend. “You know that, in a long run, the only way to defeat a hateful ideology is to promote the hopeful alternative of human freedom. And that is what our nations are doing today in the Middle East.”
Mr. Bush’s remarks underscored the extent to which he has sought to recast NATO’s mission from a bulwark against an invasion of Europe to that of an expeditionary force able to extend its reach far beyond its borders.
At the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, he called the war on Islamic extremism — the central focus of his administration since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — “the top priority of this alliance,” a view that is not universal among some European allies.
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“NATO is no longer a static alliance focused on defending Europe from a Soviet tank invasion,” he said in Bucharest. “It is now an expeditionary alliance that is sending its forces across the world to help secure a future of freedom and peace for millions.” Mr. Bush visited Croatia on the eve of a trip to Russia, where NATO’s expansion has been greeted with suspicion and hostility, despite Mr. Bush’s repeated assurances that the Russians need not fear an alliance of democratic nations on its western borders.
The only problem is that’s not what the NATO Treaty says:
The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments.
They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area.
They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this North Atlantic Treaty :
And, as Article 5 of the treaty, notes, the NATO Alliances is purely defensive:
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.
Mr. President, if you want to create an alliance to make the world safe for democracy, or whatever it is you’re championing, then I suggest you find another one.
When America, and the rest of Western Europe, signed up for NATO in 1949, it was solely for the purpose of defending Western Europe from Soviet Communism, not going on crusades around the world
Oh, and before you do that, I suggest you read up on the last President who tried to make the world safe for democracy and the complete and utter mess he left behind.
