Tuesday - March 17, 2009

BARRY WANTS A STRONG AND UNITED FEDERAL EUROPE. HOW MIGHT THAT PLAY IN USA LATER?

I’m curious to know if this has received much play in the states.  While it seems to stress the defense issue, I’m not too certain how this can be a good thing long term for the USA.  But then, that isn’t the concern and it doesn’t have to be the concern, of Europeans.  It’s their back yard and I can understand them being more concerned about those things that impact their lives here. Thing is, not EVERY single European and not a hell of a lot of Englishmen and women are all too crazy about their EU membership these days.  And an all powerful Brussels in a federal super state ?
Be interesting to see how that might play out.  I sure can’t see it being good for the USA, and silly as it may look to you reading this, in that kind of united superstate, as I imagine it, will there eventually be laws that a left leaning American govt. might think to follow?
I’m not claiming the sky is falling.  I’m not saying that will happen. The law thing. BUT ... seems to me it looks so much like a united world beyond the pointless UN.  Just a thought and perhaps over the top.  I just see things here and naturally project them and think if it will happen back home.

Barack Obama will back a federal Europe
America’s support for a more united Europe betrays both US and British interests, says Nile Gardiner.

By Nile Gardiner
Last Updated: 11:49AM GMT 17 Mar 2009

Barack Obama heads to Britain and Europe in two weeks’ time as the leader of the first U.S. Administration to wholeheartedly back the creation of a federal Europe. In contrast to earlier U.S. administrations, including those of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the Obama administration is avowedly Euro-federalist in outlook, and is keen to help build a European Union defense identity as well as support the foundations of a European superstate in Brussels.

This dangerous shift in U.S. policy is a betrayal of both U.S. and British interests that will threaten the long-term future of the Anglo-American Special Relationship, weaken the NATO alliance, and undermine the defence of British sovereignty in Europe. It will also undercut opposition across the EU to the Treaty of Lisbon, including in countries such as Ireland, Poland and the Czech Republic, and may set the scene for a major confrontation between the Obama White House and a future Conservative administration in London.

Barack Obama must grow as a statesman if he is to lead the free world. A Eurosceptic Conservative government led by David Cameron, committed to halting further European integration, will find itself increasingly at odds with a left-of-centre U.S. administration that is actively working against the principle of national sovereignty in Europe. In light of this, the current enthusiasm of many British conservatives for the changing of the guard at the White House is hugely misplaced.

The Bush Administration was sharply divided over Europe, with then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backing the European Constitution, but her pro-Brussels instincts were strongly opposed by key figures in the White House and the Pentagon. Bush himself was no supporter of a Franco-German dominated Europe, and worked hard to build up a counterweight of pro-American nations among the new EU members from eastern and central Europe.

In contrast, President Obama’s government will strongly back the European Security and Defence Policy, the Lisbon Treaty and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, and will seek to strengthen French and German leadership at the heart of a united European Union. It has appointed several prominent supporters of European federalism to key positions in the Pentagon and State Department, including the new Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Michèle Flournoy, and Philip H. Gordon, the next Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Flournoy, who holds one of the most powerful positions in the Pentagon, is a leading supporter of U.S. backing for an EU defence policy, and co-authored a major 2005 study strongly advocating American support for a unified European defence structure. Gordon, who will be the most senior administration official on Europe, has written that America must “support the European project”, and that “the challenge for U.S. policy is to encourage Europe to develop the cohesion and capability to become a true transatlantic partner.” He is also a prominent backer of the defeated EU Constitution, and has pushed in the past for British membership of the Euro, warning the UK that “fully in Europe, Britain has every chance to remain America’s preferred and privileged partner. Marginalized from the EU, Britain could find itself less influential in Washington as well.”

The Obama Administration has already made major concessions to Paris over President Sarkozy’s decision for France to rejoin the NATO integrated command structure. The French have been given two major positions at the helm of the Alliance, a move that will significantly enhance the drive towards a European defence component within NATO. Vice President Joe Biden has clearly indicated that the United States will support “the further strengthening of European defense” and an “increased role for the European Union in preserving peace and security.” When he travels to Europe, President Obama is expected to deliver the same message.

Significantly, while wooing both continental Europe and Russia, the new U.S. administration has been largely indifferent to the Anglo-American alliance, with an appallingly handled reception for the British Prime Minister when he visited the White House earlier this month, and the recalibration of the special relationship as a “special partnership”. Even a bust of Sir Winston Churchill has been unceremoniously thrown out of the Oval Office. A distinctly undiplomatic State Department official involved in the planning of the Obama-Brown meeting was quoted by The Sunday Telegraph as saying that “there’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world.”

There is a chance the Obama Administration will eventually wake up to the reality that American support for a federal Europe will backfire. Such a naive approach will not result in European countries spending more on defence, or in a more effective Europe. It would also undermine Washington’s ability to mobilize international coalitions. Under a unified EU foreign policy, U.S. allies would lose the freedom to decide where and when they can fight alongside America.

As they approach the transatlantic alliance, President Obama and his aides should heed the advice of a former prime minister and great friend of the United States who fought to defend the Special Relationship and maintain British sovereignty in Europe. As Margaret Thatcher put it, “that such an unnecessary and irrational project as building a European superstate was ever embarked upon will seem in future years to be perhaps the greatest folly of the modern era.”

Nile Gardiner is the Director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.

TELEGRAPH

Posted by peiper     on 03/17/2009 at 07:43 AM   
Filed Under: • International • Obama, The One •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner