Gates says NATO faces 'dim future'

Outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates offers his blunt assessment of NATO on June 10, 2011 in Brussels

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/184057.html

The outgoing US defense secretary says the war in Libya has exposed critical shortcomings in NATO's capabilities, predicting a dim future for the Western military alliance.

Speaking at Security and Defense Agenda think-tank in Brussels, Robert Gates also said many NATO members are running out of munitions only 11 weeks into the war in Libya.

Gates criticized the European governments for shrinking their country's defense budgets and threatened the alliance with a reduction in US contributions.

"Those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership, be they security guarantees or headquarters billets, but don't want to share the risks and the costs."

He also noted that NATO faces a "dim, if not dismal future."

The US share of NATO defense spending stands at 75 percent.

His remarks come amid reports that the cost of the US military operations in Libya has already exceeded the Pentagon's estimates.

The US and NATO have unleashed a punishing, UN-mandated offensive against beleaguered Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi to pressure him into relinquishing power.

However, the NATO airstrikes have killed scores of civilians as well as revolutionaries.

Libya has been the scene of fierce fighting between pro-Gaddafi troops and anti-regime forces since mid-February.

Revolutionary forces want an end to Gaddafi's decades-long rule

Jordan's King: Israel's future in "jeopardy"

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122597§ionid=351020206


Jordan's King Abdullah II has censured Israel for its illegal settlement works in occupied Palestinian lands, warning that the stalled peace talks may put the regime's future in "jeopardy".

Abdullah sharply rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his settlement plans in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), saying the regime's construction efforts in the region could ignite a new regional war.

"[It] looks like there is an attempt by certain groups to promote a third intifada, which would be disastrous," said the Jordanian king in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

He also warned, "I think the long-term future of Israel is in jeopardy unless we solve our problems."

"So with all these things in the background, the status quo is not acceptable; what will happen is that we will continue to go around in circles until the conflict erupts, and there will be suffering by peoples because there will be a war," king Abdullah told the prominent US financial daily.

Abdullah, who is to leave for Washington next week for US President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit, said he will push the Obama Administration to impose specific terms on the Tel Aviv regime for a timeline in the resumption of 'peace talks' with the Palestinians.

"I think wasting too much time is something that we all have to be very concerned about because there is tremendous tension" in the region, said the monarch.

King Abdullah also warned the Tel Aviv regime about the Jordanian-Israeli relations that has hit the lowest point "since my father made peace with Israel... It hasn't been as bad as it is today and as tense as it is today."

On October 26, 1994, Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty under which diplomatic relations between the two regimes were established.