My point is that if the US wants to withdraw support, then let them. We should defend ourselves. I would support a federalised country in Europe, but that’s just me. I don’t understand the entire sovereignty argument. Seems like people just put pride ahead of anything else.
Yes we should. But we can't.
Everyone here talks as if it is so easy to just cut the US out of the picture.... you can't.
I mean... really it is nice making this point because it cannot really be refuted, but the most important aspect of being able to defend yourself (Implying a breach in sovereignty thus conventional interstate warfighting) is a strategic displacement/movement (forgive me I do not know the English doctrinal term). Basically it mean moving a metric butt fuckload of troops and material.
The EU does not have the capacity of doing so. Not enough air-to-air refueling for a sustained air campaign. Not enough fuel and transportation capability for an extended ground campgain.
And that's just logsitics. Then the warfighting capability themselves. Communication systems that aren't linked and cannot be linked. The entire NATO force in Europe has maybe 3 AWACS planes VITAL for division-sized and up units. In a considerable theatre you'd need dozens for a sustained campaign.
There aren't enough functioning tanks on the EU continent (not counting the US) to even RESEMBLE an armoured threat.
And then the most simple part: not enough troops. Recent missions in an already poorly manned military europe have left the infantry weak.
Oh and there isn't even doctrine anymore to mount a large campaign... in other words... we don't know how to do it anymore...
Then on the note why we still need a military: international relations and international politics are primarily dominated by security issues and resource issues. This was basically the bassi of the EU. the reason the US intervened in both WW1 and WW2 and is the reasons we have peacekeeping missions in the first place.
It is the reason we actually listen to what the Chinese have to say and why a dead-broke Russia is still a player internationally at all. It is the Reason why the EU and NATO tolerate Turkey and Greece and why India and Pakistan aren't bombing the shit out of eachother. The world is dominated by thew presence of country's military and the security threats to each other.