re: Mattis to NATO: Pay More or U.S. Will ‘Moderate Its Commitment’

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Blunt U.S. Warning Reveals Deep Strains in NATO
By THOM SHANKER and STEVEN ERLANGERJUNE 10, 2011


BRUSSELS — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates sharply criticized NATO nations on Friday for what he said were shortages of military spending and political will, warning of “a dim if not dismal future” and “irrelevance” for the alliance unless more member nations contributed weapons, money and personnel.

In his final policy speech before he steps down, Mr. Gates issued a dire and unusually direct warning that the United States, the traditional leader and patron of the alliance, was exhausted by a decade of war and its own mounting budget deficits and simply might not see NATO as worth supporting any longer.

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