Okla-homey
4/4/2007, 06:16 AM
April 4, 1949: NATO established
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/11321/2001165216753448790_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001165216753448790)
Early NATO line-up. Good guys in blue, Soviets and Soviet client states in red. The states in grey were willing to let the blue team fight for them while sitting it out..
58 years ago today, in the wake of WWII and amidst the spectre of totalitarian Soviet-style communism, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by 12 Western nations: the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/13668/2001119244996859334_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001119244996859334)
NATO Headquarters in Brussels, BE.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/11334/2001187585699352641_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001187585699352641)
The military alliance, which provided for a collective self-defense against Soviet aggression, greatly increased American influence in Europe. The treaty provides that "an attack on one, is an attack on all."
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/14515/2001179854131176906_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001179854131176906)
NATO sitdown
Greece, Turkey, and West Germany later joined NATO, but in 1966 France withdrew from the integrated military command, citing American violations of the 1949 treaty. From then until 1993 it remained solely a member of NATO's political structure. It was no big loss because the French military isn't particulalry good and hasn't won much of anything since the days of Napolean.;)
In 1955, the Warsaw Pact, a Soviet-led Eastern European alliance, was established to counter NATO. Note: NATO won.
In 1994, three years after the end of the Cold War, NATO engaged in its first military action as part of an international effort to end two years of fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/14172/2001110727948372977_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001110727948372977)
Yes, wacky Euro-hippies hate NATO.
While operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001/02 were not technically NATO led operations, your correspondent feels safe in stating they might as well have been since most of the NATO countries sent forces. In fact, the German presence was the first use of German combat forces outside of Germany since 1945. The Danish combat engineers (sappers) did a superb job of landmine clearing BTW.
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/13891/2001125573197777023_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001125573197777023)
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which all left the Warsaw Pact upon its dissolution in 1991, joined NATO in 1999. Today, there are a total of twenty-six member states.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/14478/2001136122761105875_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001136122761105875)
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/12832/2001163241051540676_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001163241051540676)
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/12832/2001160220738099734_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001160220738099734)
http://aycu02.webshots.com/image/11321/2001165216753448790_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001165216753448790)
Early NATO line-up. Good guys in blue, Soviets and Soviet client states in red. The states in grey were willing to let the blue team fight for them while sitting it out..
58 years ago today, in the wake of WWII and amidst the spectre of totalitarian Soviet-style communism, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by 12 Western nations: the United States, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland, Canada, and Portugal.
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/13668/2001119244996859334_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001119244996859334)
NATO Headquarters in Brussels, BE.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/11334/2001187585699352641_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001187585699352641)
The military alliance, which provided for a collective self-defense against Soviet aggression, greatly increased American influence in Europe. The treaty provides that "an attack on one, is an attack on all."
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/14515/2001179854131176906_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001179854131176906)
NATO sitdown
Greece, Turkey, and West Germany later joined NATO, but in 1966 France withdrew from the integrated military command, citing American violations of the 1949 treaty. From then until 1993 it remained solely a member of NATO's political structure. It was no big loss because the French military isn't particulalry good and hasn't won much of anything since the days of Napolean.;)
In 1955, the Warsaw Pact, a Soviet-led Eastern European alliance, was established to counter NATO. Note: NATO won.
In 1994, three years after the end of the Cold War, NATO engaged in its first military action as part of an international effort to end two years of fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/14172/2001110727948372977_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001110727948372977)
Yes, wacky Euro-hippies hate NATO.
While operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001/02 were not technically NATO led operations, your correspondent feels safe in stating they might as well have been since most of the NATO countries sent forces. In fact, the German presence was the first use of German combat forces outside of Germany since 1945. The Danish combat engineers (sappers) did a superb job of landmine clearing BTW.
http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/13891/2001125573197777023_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001125573197777023)
Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, which all left the Warsaw Pact upon its dissolution in 1991, joined NATO in 1999. Today, there are a total of twenty-six member states.
http://aycu39.webshots.com/image/14478/2001136122761105875_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001136122761105875)
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/12832/2001163241051540676_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001163241051540676)
http://aycu33.webshots.com/image/12832/2001160220738099734_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001160220738099734)