Pentagon Invites Allies for First Time to Secret Talks Aimed at Sharing Bu

[Rose Siding]

Pentagon Invites Allies for First Time to Secret Talks Aimed at Sharing Burdens

The Pentagon has for the first time invited foreign allies into classified discussions that will shape America's military missions and combat forces for years to come, with the goal of identifying tasks that would become the responsibility of other nations and no longer the burden of the United States.

Senior Defense Department and military officials say the effort is a significant departure for how America decides the size, shape and missions of its armed forces. The decisions could more closely bind America and its military allies in peacetime, the officials said, and allow them to operate more efficiently when conducting disaster relief, peacekeeping, stabilization and full-scale combat operations.
...
Pentagon officials acknowledged that the focus on alliances could be cited by critics as an admission that the Bush administration did not do enough before the invasion of Iraq to secure worldwide support, or later to sustain contributions of allies as Iraq struggles to fight an insurgency and install a new government.

"Although the United States has historically preferred to act in concert with other states, it has also maintained the ability to act unilaterally if necessary," the classified planning document states. "Today's problems, however, are such that the United States cannot succeed by addressing them alone. The Terms of Reference, therefore, propose that the United States develop new partnerships to address nontraditional challenges."

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/18/politics/18strategy.html

[burrowowl]

1. LOL

One reason De Gaulle pulled out of NATO is that French Intelligence got hold of a NATO document stamped with: for anglo-saxon eyes only, meaning WASps and Brits.
Same old, same old: Give us your money and troops but don't question what we (U$) do.

[Maple]

2. What?

'tasks that would become the responsibility of other nations and no longer the burden of the United States.'

And how are they going to sell that to anyone???

[LynnTheDem]

3. Sorry USSA. The rest of the world is "irrelevant". You're on your own.

Have fun! :hi:

[Wright Patman]

4. Credit cards at the Pentagon

are maxed out.

And there are trillions missing.

The borrower is slave to the lender. It's one of the oldest principles in banking. It's even in the Bible that * allegedly reads every day.

A nation cannot declare bankruptcy. But it can lose its reserve currency status virtually overnight. That's what's on the verge of happening to "the world's only remaining superpower."

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that phrase over the last 15 yuears, I could lend money to the U.S. government. But given its track record, I wouldn't. I'd convert the dollars into euros.

[Rose Siding]

5. Big changes coming: less use of the word "transformation"

This all just looks like we're going into the Military Advisor business full time. I thought repubs HATED other countries knowing our plays.

snip>
The word "transformation," which has taken on an almost talismanlike quality under President Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld, appears only a few times. One senior official said it had become a code word used to tilt debate toward favored programs, so it was consciously excised from the document.

Also absent for the first time is any directive to calculate how many wars the military must be prepared to fight, officials said. Instead, the Terms of Reference document highlights gaps in critical military capabilities, like skilled Arabic linguists and enough forces to train the militaries of fragile nations to defend their territory.

[bemildred]

6. So the "lone superpower" is looking for sidekicks now?

Will they find any suckersallies now?
Is there anybody left that is both willing and not themselves
maxed out from following these rubes into the abyss?

[jmcgowanjm]

7. Alright, you can come back into the treehouse

but you gotta have money, a military, and
don't ask us for oil.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Any permanent reduction in the number
of U.S. troops in Iraq isn't likely until sometime between
2006 and 2008, a top Army general said
Thursday.

The insurgency has forced the United States to keep
a semi-permanent force of 138,000 troops, or 17 brigades,
in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion two years ago. They
are primarily Army soldiers and Marines, members of units
who stay in Iraq for a year before going
home.

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/03/18/national/a02031805_05.txt

[Spazito]

8. LOL! This HAS to be satire!

"Today's problems, however, are such that the United States cannot succeed by addressing them alone."

Translation: We screwed up so now you can help us clean it up on your dime, your blood and treasure as long as you do as we say with NO questions asked.