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U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned NATO members that they must
increase their defense spending commitments to the alliance.
Gates spoke at NATO headquarters in Brussels Friday, in what is expected to
be his last major policy speech before retiring at the end of the month. He said
U.S. lawmakers are losing patience with covering three-quarters of defense
spending for the coalition.
Gates noted that all 28 NATO members voted for the mission against Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi, but fewer than half have participated.
He said unwillingness or inability to contribute has also affected
operations in Afghanistan, where he said the coalition has "struggled, at times
desperately" to sustain a deployment of up to 45,000 troops.
He said finishing the mission in Afghanistan must be done in a united way,
not dictated by each member's domestic financial situation.
And he said if other nations fail to step up their contributions to the
more than 60-year-old transatlantic alliance, future U.S. administrations might
not consider the return on its investment worth the cost.
Gates said Thursday that substantial military progress is being made on the
ground in Afghanistan, but warned that those gains could be threatened if the
transition to full Afghan government control of security is not made in a
deliberate, organized and coordinated manner. |
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发表于 2016-7-10 17:39:14