Joe Klein: Some Honest Questions. It's About Time

Joe Klein is sizing up our current international political climate and asking some honest questions about the concept of "allies" and acting unilaterally.

February 28, 2007 9:11

Where Are the Allies?
Posted by Joe Klein Comments (30) Permalink Trackbacks (0) Email This
Given the arrogance and distemper of the Bush Administration, it's kind of tough for even our best friends, like the Brits, to remain solid U.S. allies these days...but I've got to say that Max Boot raises an important point in his column today.

Our NATO allies simply aren't pulling their weight in Afghanistan. This is a "good war" against some really bad actors--the Taliban and Al Qaeda. If we can't get NATO to do more than some flaccid, Sarajevo-style peacekeeping, then you have to wonder about the future of the alliance...although I suppose that NATO is still good for its initial purpose, to repel an attack on the European democracies. But if the Europeans aren't going to join us in the fight they agreed to undertake against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan--if we are truly all alone--it damages righteous liberal arguments about multilateralism as a precondition for military action and bolsters the neoconservative assumption that we're the only country in the world with any military spine. That would be very bad news, indeed.

Update: I must say I'm disappointed by the inability of many commenter's to see past their opinions of Max Boot and deal with the very disappointing failure of the Europeans to stand up in Afghanistan. Ezra Klein makes a similar point here about the perils of ideological myopia.

Given the arrogance and distemper of the Bush Administration, it's kind of tough for even our best friends, like the Brits, to remain solid U.S. allies these days...but I've got to say that Max Boot raises an important point in his column today.

Our NATO allies simply aren't pulling their weight in Afghanistan. This is a "good war" against some really bad actors--the Taliban and Al Qaeda. If we can't get NATO to do more than some flaccid, Sarajevo-style peacekeeping, then you have to wonder about the future of the alliance...although I suppose that NATO is still good for its initial purpose, to repel an attack on the European democracies. But if the Europeans aren't going to join us in the fight they agreed to undertake against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan--if we are truly all alone--it damages righteous liberal arguments about multilateralism as a precondition for military action and bolsters the neoconservative assumption that we're the only country in the world with any military spine. That would be very bad news, indeed.

Update: I must say I'm disappointed by the inability of many commenters to see past their opinions of Max Boot and deal with the very disappointing failure of the Europeans to stand up in Afghanistan. Ezra Klein makes a similar point here about the perils of ideological myopia.