XPost: soc.culture.usa.soc.culture.europe, soc.culture, britain   
   XPost: soc.culture.french   
   From: acorvinas@cox.net   
      
   It is still live and alive because like any organismhas the urging   
   tendency to perpetuate itself. Some have good and secure jobs and enjoy   
   seeng places. A minimal fear that the URSS is just dormant and could -   
   God forbid!- resurect might be another reason.   
      
   My take is that had it been a Sovietr  great military attack durind the   
   Cold War we would have had a desastre and no real NATO in sight   
      
   BTK Strangler wrote:   
      
   > "David T"  wrote...   
   >   
   >>Its time has gone. It's time for the US to save significant dollars   
   >>and let Europe defend itself against the non-existent threat of the   
   >>Communist Block. The US should pull out and the European troops should   
   >>become the military arm of the EU.   
   >>   
   >>The Cold War is over. End NATO and the wasted US dollars.   
   >   
   >   
   > As an American, I'm inclined to agree.  Especially with the recent   
   > addition of former Warsaw Pact countries, you have to wonder exactly   
   > what threat NATO is defending Europe against.   
   >   
   > Right now the U.S. government budget is stretched to its limit and   
   > beyond, currently adding $500 billion or so in deficit each year,   
   > and even that is insufficient to give Americans everything they need.   
   > For example, there is a serious health care crisis in the U.S. right   
   > now, with perhaps 40% of Americans lacking health coverage.  There   
   > seems to be no money to solve that problem, but plenty of money for   
   > the military, which includes the NATO alliance.  Then we watch as   
   > the damn Europeans pay relatively little in comparison for their   
   > defense, and enjoy all the benefits of fully-funded medical care.  If   
   > Europeans had to actually pay for most of their defense, their level   
   > of medical care might be reduced, but then the U.S. could afford to   
   > cover more of its citizens.  This is just one example, there are   
   > countless other things the U.S. could do with the money it saved from   
   > reducing its defense of Europe.   
   >   
   > The EU is extremely wealthy.  They can certainly afford to defend   
   > themselves.  If they just cut their cradle-to-grave welfare state   
   > benefits by 10% they could achieve a defense capability equivalent   
   > to the U.S.  The only real threat the EU faces is terrorism, and so   
   > far I haven't seen NATO forces used to fight terrorist groups even   
   > once.   
   >   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)