Do They Never Learn?

As I mentioned earlier, I went down to my parents' house tonight. One of the occasional benefits of doing so is that I get to read through one of my favorite magazines, Aviation Week & Space Technology. Tonight, my Dad gave me last week's issue to take home with me.

So as I'm reading through it, I come across an article on pg. 34, titled "Planning Ahead: Washington again hits back at European military HQ scheme - but more lightly." (sorry, no link found on the Aviation Week site - and even if it was there it would require a subscription)

In the article was this line, which I found to be most interesting:

"The three nations [France, Britain, and Germany] also agreed that select countries could forge defense ties beyond those desired by the EU at large, as in the case of the Euro zone, and that the EU could provide a mutual assistance guarantee in the event of an external threat." (emphasis mine)

A mutual assistance guarantee? Weren't those part of what dragged all of Europe into World War I? Wasn't it a mutual assistance guarantee what brought France and Britain into conflict with Hitler's Germany when he invaded Poland in 1939? This isn't to say that the pacts are evil, but they haven't exactly been real effective as a deterrent. If they haven't worked in the past what makes this time so different? Why would someone still want to use them when they have done nothing but rapidly expanded previous conflicts?

Even NATO has been less than wonderful in this regards. A guarantee is only as worthwhile as the nation or organization granting it. Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland and others backed up their rhetoric in the aftermath of 9/11. NATO to a small degree and France and Germany totally shrank back. Their guarantees, their promises were worth squat. If France and Germany are really pulling the marionette strings in the EU why would anyone put any faith in a mutual assistance guarantee backed by either of those two nations?

Mutual assistance guarantees need to go the way of the horse and buggy. They serve no purpose other than to drag uninterested parties into an everwidening conflict. The assassination of one man once before dragged the Europe into World War I. We should not allow a system to be set up that might do so again.