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6/11/11

Europe must do more for NATO, U.S. defense secretary says

In a stern rebuke, outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Friday that the future of the NATO military alliance is at risk because of European penny-pinching and distaste for front-line combat. The U.S. won't carry the alliance as a charity case, the outgoing Pentagon chief said.

Some NATO countries bristled, but Britain quickly and heartily agreed.

Gates' assessment that NATO could face "a dim if not dismal" future echoes long-standing concern of U.S. policy-makers about European defense spending. But rarely, if ever, has it been stated so directly by such a powerful U.S. figure
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For more: Europe must do more for NATO, U.S. defense secretary says | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

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