Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

including a “dual capable” (nuclear) variant, will cost
more than $130 million a copy. 8 Based on current <strong>and</strong>
projected defense budget figures, one wonders how
Allies who have pledged to buy the craft, such as the
United Kingdom (UK) <strong>and</strong> Italy, will be able to do so.
While the Barack Obama administration welcomed
the willingness of our European allies to take
the political <strong>and</strong> military initiative in Libya, allowing
the United States to “lead from behind,” it was the
shrinkage of allied capabilities that caught most of the
attention of the U.S. Congress <strong>and</strong> policymakers. Libya
showed that while the United States. took a back
seat—its aircraft were not involved in the air strikes—
the allies that did participate in Operation UNIFIED
PROTECTOR were forced to rely on U.S. planes for
refueling <strong>and</strong> intelligence-gathering operations. During
the Libya operation, the United States. made it
abundantly clear that it expects its European allies to
take the lead when crises erupt in their own backyard.
In a well-publicized speech in June 2011, then
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated frankly that
many countries were not taking part in the Libyan
campaign because they could not; that those that were
involved were running out of munitions; <strong>and</strong> that
<strong>NATO</strong> had become a two-tiered Alliance in which
only some members had combat capabilities, while
others enjoyed the benefits of membership while refusing
to pay the costs.
The blunt reality is,” he said, “that there will be dwindling
appetite <strong>and</strong> 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 <strong>and</strong> capable partners in their own defense.
381