French general takes over NATO command in Virginia

Source: AP

BRUSSELS — In an unprecedented move, a French general will take over a key NATO command in Norfolk, Virginia, charged with transforming the Europe-centered Cold War alliance to tackle today's global challenges, NATO said Wednesday.

Gen. Stephane Abrial of the French Air Force will take over from U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis as NATO's commander in charge of military modernization, the alliance said in a statement.

The position has traditionally been held by a four-star U.S. general. Abrial's appointment marks the first time in NATO's 60-year history that a non-American officer has been appointed to fill the position.

"For NATO this is unprecedented," alliance spokesman James Appathurai said. "It is a manifestation of the French return to the military structure, and also of France's importance to NATO's future because the (Norfolk) command will help shape the alliance in the 21st century."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jnJYwxA9eKTf29yHjZ3FD5Ex_MxwD99OADD00

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:)

Quel clusterfuque!

Chowdah!

from all ranks...

Either those other two men are on the short side, or the general is Herman Munster's long lost brother.

the other one takes over the Rapid Reaction Force NRF

Abrial has studied at the US Air Force Academy in 1974 the Air War College de Maxwell AFB, Alabama in 1991

The last Nato secretary general?

And so farewell to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as Nato secretary general, and a wary welcome to Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Given there is no such thing as a really good or successful SG – according to the blurb they all are, and in reality the job is impossible so no one can be – de Hoop Scheffer was not bad. An unremarkable politician in his own state, the Netherlands, he remained much the same throughout his tenure in Nato: intensely hardworking, well intentioned, intelligent and ultimately ineffective. But to be fair, one man alone cannot make Nato effective in Afghanistan – nor can he lead an organisation that is neither structured nor prepared to fight a widescale expeditionary war against an unconventional enemy.

The vacancy for Nato SG came up rather unexpectedly five years ago when the incumbent, George Robertson, decided not to extend his tenure. De Hoop Scheffer, then Dutch foreign minister and a strong advocate of his nation's participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was supported by the US for the job and not really opposed by anyone. This was partly to do with the vacancy falling at an inconvenient time for a round of jobs for the boys, the way in which senior international slots tend to be filled, and the Dutch often get such off-timing posts since they are neither big enough to offend a large state nor small enough to be totally irrelevant. However, it was also clearly to do with the fact that most European states had decided Nato was more or less a dying concern controlled by the US backed by the UK, and they were not too fussed who headed it.

De Hoop Scheffer could not have been unaware of this drift, since it was probably the principal reason Lord Robertson decided to leave the post: he knew there was no political will to sustain the organisation, let alone fight a war. Moreover, he knew that beyond general European post-cold war military disinterest, the origins of this situation lay in very specific circumstances: the effective rejection by the US of Nato and its members after the attacks of 9/11.

In the immediate aftermath of the attacks the alliance invoked, for the first and only time ever, article 5 of its treaty, that states that an armed attack against one or more is an attack against them all, and that each and all will therefore take "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area". It was the strongest measure the alliance could take, and it was known that each member state was willing to back up its commitment with military action.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/31/nato-secretary-general

the state of the UK army is bad by lack of funding and the recent deaths in A-stan have resulted in an "anti-military" opinion among Brits. In reality the US wants to reinforce the cohesion of the European defense, so NATO is far from being dead....

For awhile outside of the US and the UK.

China is the new leader. Soviets are gone.

currently 25 000 non-US men in Afghanistan, half of the total force

under those last 20 years :

Operation Achilles - Operation Active Endeavor - Operation Deny Flight - Operation Diesel - Operation Eagle Assist - Operation Eagle Eye (Kosovo) - Operation Eagle's Summit - Operation Essential Harvest - Operation Joint Endeavor - Operation Hammer (Afghanistan) - Operation Harekate Yolo - Operation Karez - Operation Kryptonite - Operation Mountain Fury - Operation Pickaxe-Handle - Operation Shahi Tandar- Operation Sharp Guard - Operation Sky Monitor - Operation Strikeback

Counting the presence in Bosnia/Kosovo (IFOR, SFOR) and NATO countries presence in Lebanon, several African countries (EUFOR), the naval forces outside Somalia to take only the biggest you can add 20 000 men.

All this is not including US forces. So without that European presence, the US had been rather busy quenching the flames.

Besides I wouldn't count the Russians for dead, we saw what they could do in Georgia a year ago. And the Chinese Army is big but still not a technological match for the West.

That you read the whole article I posted.

I think your slip is showing.

the author is wrong and writing in the Guardian doesn't make her an authority. NATO isn't dead because you wish it was.

do you know anything about economics? no offense, just hahahahahhaha

French Soldier: "I'm French. Why do you think I have this outrageous accent?"

-monty python

UN Black helicopters incoming. Pass the survival rations and some ammo. Woolverines!

:rofl:

where the hell did that come from??

The TRUTH About Black Helicopters!Oct 1, 2006 ... Herein is revealed the never-before-exposed TRUTH about the origins, traits, and purposes of Black Helicopters!
http://zapatopi.net/blackhelicopters/

i really thought they had one before...