The EUobserver is reporting that the Greek European Union presidency will be asking Turkey to join the EU's new military Rapid Reaction Force (Read about it here). The reason this is interesting to me is because, just last November, I wrote a commentary about how I thought this very thing could happen. Here is part of that November commentary:
Pull The Horns And Pass The Turkey As I write, there just happens to be a 10-nation military alliance within the EU's Council of Ministers. These 10 nations are: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece. Although you would think all the leaders of this 10-nation alliance would be on the side of those wishing to strengthen the Council, this isn't the case. Three of these nations, Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, have now officially broken ranks with the other members of the 10-nation alliance within the Council, and have sided instead with the Commission. This being the case, I began wondering if these three nations could actually be the three horns that the Antichrist will pull out by the roots in his rise to power. Now, I read a news report that supports this possibility. The three nations that broke ranks with the other members of the 10-nation alliance are known as the Benelux nations. And, in light of the desired headline goals of this military alliance, the combined military value of the Benelux nations is almost zero. In other words, they're becoming more of a problem to the alliance than they're worth. Turkey, on the other hand, would be of much value to the alliance right now. Why? Because, not only is Turkey of strategic importance as member of NATO, Turkey holds the key in solving an important dispute over whether the 10-nation alliance will be allowed to use NATO assets. In fact, this one dispute has been all that has been preventing the 10-nation alliance from becoming fully operational on schedule (Read about it here). Many European leaders, however, are against Turkey's entry into the EU because Turkey isn't a true democracy -- it only has the appearance of a democracy. This is because, no mater what government is elected by the people, it can't rule without the approval of Turkey's military leaders. Nevertheless, four dominate members of the EU's 10-nation alliance, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, have all come out in support of allowing Turkey's entry into the EU. This brings us to an important question: Why would these four powerful members of the EU support something that most believe would be ultimately harmful to the stated goals of the EU - the promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Here's what I suspect: It may be because, although Turkey is not good for the EU, Turkey would be great for the 10-nation military alliance. So, this Thanksgiving Day, I can't help but wonder if Javier Solana
- the man who took charge over the 10-nation military alliance back on
Thanksgiving Day 1999 - might be heard in the Council saying, "Pull out
the three horns, and pass the Turkey please."
11-25-2002
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Like I said before, Greece -- a member of Solana's 10-nation military alliance -- has taken control of the EU presidency. And, one of the very first things the Greek presidency does is announce its decision to ask Turkey to join the EU's Rapid Reaction force. Is this Solana saying, "Pass the Turkey Please?" 01-12-03
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