Cool! According to the Telegraph, there is a proposal afoot to design an EU mutual defense force which will replace NATO, although those involved deny that this would occur.
Under the plan the new defence force will have its responsibilities extended from those backed by Mr Blair - peacekeeping and crisis management in neighbouring states - to include full-scale defence of the EU.Any terrorist or military attack on one member of the Union would enable that country to invoke an EU version of Nato's Article 5, calling member states' military forces to its aid.
Although the European force is supposed to be coordinated with Nato, and to be drawn from the same pool of troops, it will be separately commanded.
This is nothing less than a repudiation of NATO. There's no need for a separate mutual defense pact unless you plan to withdraw from the present one. Europe was happy to be a part of NATO when it was their butts on the line, when the threat was primarily to them, but now that the threat seems to be mostly aimed at the US, we can see European gratitude in action; they are distancing themselves from the US. Since Islamic terrorism is aimed primarily at the US and US interests, the EU figures the best way to avoid getting drawn in is to step aside.
Posted by Rich at October 28, 2002 11:02 AM