European Cowardice

Quiz time: what do the following states have in common and what is tragically unique about four of them?

Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, UK, USA.

Answer, they are all member sates of NATO, but only four of them are regularly engaged in combat as part of NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan: Canada, Netherlands, UK and USA. Others, notably France, Germany and Spain have troops in the country but they are kept in the North, well out of the way of the deadly combat in the South. With the US fully committed elsewhere in the region, the British and Canadians (and to lesser extent the Dutch) are bearing the brunt of the Taliban insurgency. NATO is asking for another 2,500 troops to reinforce the hard-pressed British and Canadian contingents. As The Times wryly noted, "There were no immediate offers."

No wonder some seasoned observers think Afghanistan is at a tipping point, surely with some justification now that the Talibian have regrouped from their initial setbacks in Afghanistan and have a secure power base in Waziristan . Acccording to Rolf Tophoven, a German expert in terrorism, cited by Monsters and Critics,

The Taliban have come back better equipped... We know that because of the type of bombs now used there, and the types of ambushes that are set. The Taliban now fight against battalion-sized international units.'
He added the focus of insurgents had moved from Iraq to Afghanistan.
The situation is most critical in the southern provinces of the country, around Kandahar, where British, Canadian and Dutch troops are facing an ever-mounting death toll.

The ISAF mission is part of a wider, US-led strategy to defend the West from Islamic terrorism. The USA is now the leader, and main defender, of western civilisation, a responsibility to which President Bush has risen magnificently. It is no secret that many European states - Belgium is a serial offender - take a cowardly approach to Islamic terrorism and would rather appease the terrorists than stand firm with their allies who do have the political courage and will to stand firm with the USA.

Even before the current crisis is resolved, it is time to start asking, what is the point of being part of a military alliance in which the majority of governments will not provide the necessary resources for that alliance to carry out its missions. Structures other than NATO may provide better security.