It's said even the devil can't be everywhere at once. But, according to the Financial Times, the EU's High Representative Javier Solana can. Yesterday the Financial Times called Solana "ubiquitous." And according to my dictionary, ubiquitous means "everywhere at once."

But that appears to be the surprise. At the recent annual meeting of NATO's top leaders in Munich, Solana went missing. In fact, not only was Solana missing from this important event, all Solana's people were missing also Read about it here.

And when I read one suspected reason, I had one of those "wow" moments. It appears some believe Washington's NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns and Solana aren't getting along very well. Why? Because Solana didn't invite Washington to sit in on one of his EU/NATO meetings, so Burns didn't invite Solana to NATO's important annual Munich Conference.

This may, or may not, be the case. But for us the reason doesn't matter. What matters to us is the fact that NATO is no longer a unified organization under American control. NATO has been divided into two camps and now a power struggle has begun.

At the same time we learn Britain and France have agreed to join forces and create hard core military units. And, they are inviting other EU member states who can meet certain military standards to join with them Read about it here. 

No wonder Burns and Solana aren't getting along. Something big is brewing in the EU. And, Washington knows it and is very concerned about it.

I can't help but think back to what former Secretary of Defense William Cohen told me in October of 2001. Cohen said what Solana and the EU leaders were doing was just for show. They just wanted the European people to think they had their own independant military. 

I think he knows better now. It was reported Cohen attended this year's NATO Munich Conference. But, for the first time in recent history, Mr. Ubiquitous didn't show up.

I guess even Solana can't be everywhere at once.