----- Original Message ----- From: "J. van Baardwijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 4:01 PM Subject: Re: Netherlands Promises "Deeds, Not Just Words"
> At 09:15 29-9-01 -0400, John Giorgis wrote: > > >The EU could barely make a meaningful contribution to the Kosovo effort > >in their own backyard. > > Jeez, thanks man. Nice to hear that our efforts are so greatly appreciated. > It is especially appreciated by the families of European soldiers who died > on the Balkan. :-( > > FYI, at least five (probably more) of my colleagues did not come back > alive. I hope you understand that I find your statement unnecessarily > harsh, and insulting to thousands of Europeans who risked their lives on > the Balkan. > No matter how effective or ineffective the armies were, nothing can take away from the devotion those who lost their lives shown. I appreciate the sacrifices that they made to keep people in Kosovo alive and safe. Unfortunately, through no fault of theirs, the efforts were not very effective, as Gautam pointed out. It was truly very unfortunate for all concerned that the European Union, after making this an example of how they could handle a situation on their own, had to call for the US to handle it for them. There is no doubt at all that the EU has put a lot of effort into this action. Perhaps it was expecting too much to believe that, after relying on the US for their defense for about 50 years, that they could be effective by themselves out of the blocks. I wish the EU every success in revamping their forces/coordiation to be more effective. Dan M.
