Nato faces 'dismal' future: US Defence Secretary Gates

Nato – the cornerstone of US security policy for six decades – faces a “dim, if not dismal” future, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said today.

In his final policy speech as Pentagon chief, Gates questioned the viability of Nato, saying its members’ penny-pinching and lack of political will could hasten the end of US support.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed in 1949 as a US-led bulwark against Soviet aggression, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose.

“Future US political leaders – those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me – may not consider the return on America’s investment in Nato worth the cost,” he told a European think tank in Brussels.

He said both of Nato’s main military operations now – Afghanistan and Libya - point up weaknesses and failures within the alliance.

“The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the US Congress ... to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defence,” he said.

Without naming names, he blasted allies who are “willing and eager for American taxpayers to assume the growing security burden left by reductions in European defence budgets”.

The war in Afghanistan, which is being conducted under Nato auspices, is a prime example of US frustration at European inability to provide the required resources.

“Despite more than two million troops in uniform, not counting the US military, Nato has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of 25,000 to 45,000 troops, not just in boots on the ground, but in crucial support assets such as helicopters, transport aircraft, maintenance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and much more,” Gates said.

He said reluctance of some European nations to expand defence budgets and take on direct combat this could spell the demise of Nato.

“What I’ve sketched out is the real possibility for a dim, if not dismal future for the trans-Atlantic alliance,” he said. “Such a future is possible, but not inevitable. The good news is that the members of Nato – individually and collectively – have it well within their means to halt and reverse these trends and instead produce a very different future.”

Gates noted the difficulty Nato has encountered in carrying out an air campaign in Libya.

“The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country, yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the US, once more, to make up the difference,” he said.

His comment reflected US frustration with the allies’ limited defence budgets.

“To avoid the very real possibility of collective military irrelevance, member nations must examine new approaches to boosting combat capabilities,” he said.

A Nato air operations centre designed to handle more than 300 flights a day is struggling to launch about 150 a day against Libya, Gates said.

On a political level, the problem of alliance purpose in Libya is even more troubling, he said.

“While every alliance member voted for the Libya mission, less than half have participated, and fewer than a third have been willing to participate in the strike mission,” he said.