NATO Tearing At The Seams (moved from ATSNN), page 1

While Bush and Blair shook hands at an evening dinner for European leaders, Chirac and Schroeder hugged. Even though Chirac is fluent in English he chose to speak French about the future of NATO and the prospects of European defense being 'enshrined' in the future E.U. constitution.

www.thesun.co.uk
IRAQ war wobbler Jacques Chirac scuttled George Bush’s fence-mending trip to Europe yesterday — by cranking up a row over the future of Nato.

He embraced a German-led plot to ditch the alliance as the backbone of transatlantic relations, in favour of the European Union.

...France and Germany, led by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, want defence enshrined in the EU constitution.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Some say it's a snub, others a slap in the face. What we can see is that it's a realist's picture of the future European Union. Laughing in the face of Britain without even flinching with their American 'buddy' sitting next to them.

Consensus is: Who Cares? What can the U.S. really do when NATO is torn at the seams. They are not just too busy all over the world in war and conflict, they don't have a good reputation for negotiating deals between conflicting states or even between allies.

Will NATO be torn by the seams in our lifetime? I think so.