My Jane's email notices have provided the good news:
The NATO Response Force (NRF) has reached its full operational capability (FOC), allied leaders meeting for their summit in Riga, Latvia, announced on 29 November. This was made possible by pledges from alliance members during a force generation conference at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium, on 21-23 November.
Thank goodness. NATO can be on the move quickly, on the ground with combat troops, and then ... what?
What good will a faster NATO do when half of the NATO troops in Afghanistan are from countries that won't fight?
About half the NATO troops inAfghanistan are from countries that will not allow their soldiers to go south and fight the Taliban.
Dress 'em up any way you want, but if the caveats on troop usage aren't lifted by individual NATO governments, the NRF is just a giant ClusterFOC.
Maybe I'm not approaching this grand news in the spirit it deserves.
