“Our interests are not always the same as those of the United States.” La Porte stepped closer to the group, his enormous girth momentarily intimidating. “In fact, in my opinion, they are far from the same now, as I have been trying to convince the EU for some years. Europe was, and is, too great to be a mere satellite of the United States.”
Sir Arnold repressed a chuckle. “Remind your own country of that, Roland. After all, this grand aircraft carrier, this futuristic French warship that’s carrying us, has made-in-the-USA steam catapults and arresting cables, since nothing else is available. And the Hawkeye surveillance and early-warning planes that you’ve got up there circling are also made in the United States. Rather critical points, wouldn’t you say?”
Italian General Ruggiero Inzaghi had been listening carefully. He had large dark eyes, as hard as flint, and a wide mouth that was habitually set in a straight, no-nonsense line. He had been studying the big Frenchman, but now he turned to the Englishman. “I think General La Porte has a point. The Americans often brush off our immediate and long-range needs, especially when they don’t easily coincide with what they think they want.”
The Spaniard, General Valentin Gonzalez, wagged a finger at the Italian. “Your own problem in Albania some years ago wouldn’t be on your mind, would it, Ruggie? As I recall, it wasn’t just the United States that had no interest in such a minor matter. Neither did the rest of Europe.”
General Inzaghi retorted, “With a fully integrated European army, we’d back each other with all our concerns.”
“As do each of the American states, which once were so contentious that they fought a long, savage civil war among themselves,” La Porte pointed out. “They still disagree, but they’re all one on the larger issues. Consider, gentlemen, that we Europeans have an economy one-third larger than that of the United States, and most of our citizens enjoy levels of medical, educational, and social benefits that are superior, too. There are more of us, and we’re better off. Yet we still can’t engage in a crucial military operation alone. That was made painfully clear by our inability to deal with the crises in the Balkans. Once more, we had to go to Washington with our hats in our hands. It’s too humiliating. Are we to remain stepchildren forever to a nation that owes its very existence to us?”
The only general in the conference room who still had taken no part in the discussion, preferring, it seemed, to watch and listen, was Bundeswehr General Otto Bittrich. As usual, the expression on his rawboned face was thoughtful. His blond hair was nearly white now, but his ruddy complexion seemed decades younger than his fifty-two years. He cleared his throat, his Prussian expression severe.
“The Kosovo campaign occurred in an area that’s cost Europe millions of dead over the centuries,” he said with a sweep of his gaze to make certain that he had their undivided attention, “a tumultuous region, dangerous to all our interests. The Balkans are, after all, our powder keg. Everyone knows this. Yet to do what was necessary to control the fighting in Kosovo and stabilize Europe again, it was Washington that had to provide eighty-five percent of the equipment and systems.” The German general’s voice rose with indignation. “Yes, our member nations have some two million soldiers, fully operational air forces, and excellent navies, all well equipped to fighthellip; but what good are they? They stay home and inspect the space between their toes. Useless! We could go back into the past and fight World War Two again, Ja. We could even destroy cities with dumb bombs now. But without the Americans, as General La Porte has correctly said, we can’t transport troops and materiel to a modern war, much less fight it. We have no operational planning capability. No command structures. Technically, electronically, logistically, and strategically, we’re mastodons. I am, in truth, embarrassed by this. Aren’t you, too?”
But the Britisher, Sir Arnold, held his ground, asking lightly, “Could we all really get along in a unified European army? Could we actually plan operations together, allow multinational communications? Face it, my friends, it isn’t only the Americans who have interests different from ours. We, too, disagree, especially politically. And that’s where the approval of such an independent military force would have to come from.”
General Inzaghi sat up straighter, annoyed. “About getting along, Sir Arnold,” he retorted, “our politicians may have difficulty, but I assure you that our soldiers don’t. The Rapid Reaction Force is already stationed outside Mostar in Bosniathe Salamander Division, seven thousand men strong, in Italian, French, German, and Spanish battle groups. General La Porte’s own countrymanGeneral Robert Meilleis in charge.”
“And the Eurocorp,” the Spaniard Gonzalez pointed out. “Don’t forget them. Fifty thousand Spanish, German, Belgian, and French troops.”
“At the moment, under Bundeswehr command,” General Bittrich added with satisfaction.
“Yes,” Inzaghi said, nodding. “The multinational Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese troops under a single command to protect our Mediterranean coastline.”
The missing nation in all these multi-European military organizations became glaringly clear as each was enumerated. There was a heavy silence, in which no one mentioned that when Britain took part in a joint operation, it was invariably only with the Americans, where they were the second-largest contingent and therefore at least second in command.
Sir Arnold only smiled. A political as well as a military man, he continued to speak lightly: “And are those combined units how all of you envision the structure of this Pan-European army? Bits and pieces stuck together with schoolboy’s paste? I’d hardly call them unified.”
La Porte hesitated, then said carefully, “The exact structure of any European combined military would have to be worked out, of course. I envision more than one possibility, Arnold. Naturally, we’d want Britain’s full input and”
Otto Bittrich broke in. “For myself, I see a centrally organized and highly integrated force where the influence of individual states is blurred if not nonexistent. In short, a truly independent European army under a rotating joint command, answerable to no individual nation, but to the EU Parliament alone. That way, political control is assured, where all nations have members, and majority rules. Anything less would be a eunuch.”
But General Gonzalez looked troubled. He complained in a Spanish accent, “You’re talking of more than an army, General Bittrich. You’re imagining a United Europe, which to some of us is very, very different from a European Union.”
“A United Europe will almost certainly result from a true European military, I should say,” the British general remarked pointedly.
Bittrich and La Porte both brushed that aside, and Bittrich said angrily, “That’s not at all what I said, General Moore. I speak militarily, not politically. As a trading bloc and a geographical entity, Europe has common interests that are of little importance to the United States. In fact, many times our interests are opposed to the United States. The EU shares everything from a currency to regulations on hunting migratory birds. Surely it’s time to spread that umbrella. We should not depend on the bloody American military any longer!”
“For myself,” La Porte put in with a gruff laugh, “and I believe you will all admit that no one is more protective of his national identity and importance than is a Frenchman, especially one like myselfhellip;I believe a true United Europe must come. Perhaps a thousand years from now, but it’s inevitable. Still, I doubt a united military will force it to happen any sooner.”
“Well,” the Briton snapped, all lightness abruptly gone, “my own nation’s views on the matter are clear. No totally integrated European army. No European cap badges. No European flag. None. Any British contribution to the Rapid Reaction Force, or a self-contained army, must remain firmly under British control, deployed at the bidding of the British prime minister.” Sir Arnold took an angry breath and asked, “And exactly where would the money come from for the transport planes such a ‘no U.S. involvement’ military would need? Also for the cargo ships and aircraft, the communications systems, the laser-guided munitions, the electronic jamming units, the military planning system, the fully modernized command structure? Certainly not from Britain!”
La Porte said confidently, “The money will be there, Sir Arnold, when the need becomes so clear that even the politicians can evade the future no longer. When they understand that the fate of Europe is at stake.”
Sir Arnold was watching the French general intently. “Do you perhaps envision a time when we’d want to go to war with the United States?”
A hush spread around the room, while La Porte paced, his face in a sudden scowl, his ponderous body impressive for its agility. “We already are at war with the Americans, in every aspect of life and business except militarily. But militarily, we cannot be. We are too weak, too dependent on all their systems, hardware, and even the most modern weapons. We have soldiers and arms that we can’t properly equip, move, or control, without Washington.” He stopped pacing to face them, allowing his stern, unblinking eyes to examine each face. “For example, what would happen if there was some extreme crisis with Russia or China, and the American systems upon which we depend were all rendered useless or worse? What if Washington lost control of its own command and control systems? Where would we be then? If, for any reason, the Americans became defenseless, if only for a short time, then we would, too. In fact, we’d be even more defenseless.”