BERLIN — Defense Secretary Robert Gates rebuked some of America’s staunchest allies Friday, saying the United States has a “dwindling appetite” to serve as the heavyweight partner in the military order that has underpinned the U.S. relationship with Europe since the end of World War II.
In an unusually stinging speech, made on his valedictory visit to Europe before he retires at the end of the month, Gates condemned European defense cuts and said the United States is tired of engaging in combat missions for those who “don’t want to share the risks and the costs.”
“The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the U.S. Congress, and in the American body politic writ large, to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources . . . to be serious and capable partners in their own defense,” he said in an address to a think tank in Brussels.
The speech comes as the United States prepares to begin withdrawing some forces from Afghanistan this summer and as it and other NATO powers engage in an air campaign against the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy. In both cases, Gates said, budget cuts and sheer reluctance among European partners to fight have made the missions more difficult and shifted the burden onto the United States.
U.S. officials have been unhappy with Germany in the months since it refused to support a U.N. Security Council resolution to intervene in Libya, but President Barack Obama feted German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday at the White House, presenting her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In response to Gates’ speech, the German Foreign Ministry dismissed the notion that it was not sufficiently contributing to NATO and noted the celebrations this week in Washington.
“Germany makes a considerable contribution to NATO and NATO-led operations,” said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, speaking anonymously under diplomatic ground rules. “Germany’s engagement is very emphatically valued,” as evidenced by Merkel’s new medal, she said.
Official reaction in other European capitals appeared muted Friday. The French Defense Ministry had no immediate comment.
But NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen shares Gates’ concerns about European willingness to contribute to its own defense, an alliance spokeswoman said.
“There is clearly a long-standing concern about the transatlantic gap in defense spending,” Oana Lungescu said in Brussels.
Gates and other U.S. officials have criticized Europe in the past, saying it is failing to hold up its end of the bargain.
Gates said he has “worried openly” in the past “about NATO turning into a two-tiered alliance between members who specialize in ‘soft’ humanitarian, development, peacekeeping and talking tasks and those conducting the ‘hard’ combat missions — between those willing and able to pay the price and bear the burdens of alliance commitments, and those who enjoy the benefits of NATO membership . . . but don’t want to share the risks and the costs.”
“This is no longer a hypothetical worry,” Gates said. “We are there today. And it is unacceptable.”
