ブリュッセルで行われた北大西洋条約機構（ＮＡＴＯ）国防相会合でアメリカのゲーツ国防長官が、ヨーロッパ諸国の国防費削減について批判する演説を行いました。
VOAの音声はこちらをクリックしてください。
以下はゲーツ国防長官の演説の要旨です。
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NATOのリビア軍事作戦には加盟28ヶ国が参加したが、半分以下の国しか参加していない。そして実際の軍事行動に参加しているのは3ヶ国だけである。
過去10年でヨーロッパの防衛費支出は約15%削減された。このことはアフガニスタンでのNATOの活動に多大なる影響（制限）を与えた。
つまりアメリカを除いても200万人の兵力がありながら、後方支援を入れても（財政事情のために）数万人しか派遣できなかった。
現在NATOの軍事支出の75%もアメリカ１国で負担している。それもオバマ大統領が今後は大幅な軍事支出削減の方針を打ち出した状況下において、である。
共通の軍事行動には、各国が公平な軍事支出を負担すべきである。それがなければアメリカが今後も今までと同様にNATOを支援するかは不明である。
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アメリカは来月からアフガニスタンの撤兵を開始し、2014年までには完全撤退する予定ですし、アメリカ世論は早急な撤退を支持しています。
しかしビン・ラディンの死亡はアフガニスタンの反政府勢力であるタリバーンに大きな影響を与えておらず、アフガニスタンの治安部隊の要請が順調に進んでいないため、オバマ大統領は大規模の撤退に慎重な姿勢です。
オバマ大統領は財政赤字の縮小（軍事費支出の削減）とアメリカの治安維持（テロ対策）という２つの命題の板挟みの状況にあります。
この状況下でヨーロッパ諸国にNATOへの軍事費負担増を求めたくなるのは当然のことでしょう。
しかしヨーロッパではギリシャの財政危機が再燃しており、むしろ軍事費はできるだけ切り詰めたい状況にあります。
テロ対策の課題は、世界経済の行方にまで大きな影響を与えています。
American Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told NATO members that they need to do more — and spend more — to support the alliance.
ROBERT GATES: “The blunt reality is that there will be dwindling appetite and patience in the US Congress — and in the American body politic writ large — to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense.”
On Friday, Mr. Gates gave his last policy speech before he retires as defense secretary on June thirtieth. He spoke in Brussels, Belgium, at the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO was created in nineteen forty-nine to defend western Europe against the Soviet Union.
Mr. Gates spoke about one current NATO operation — the bombing campaign in Libya. He noted that all twenty-eight members voted for the mission. But less than half have taken part at all, he said, and fewer than a third have been willing to participate in the campaign. He said many allies want to take part but lack the resources.
Last week NATO decided to extend its activities in Libya until the end of September.
Mr. Gates said that by one estimate, European defense spending has fallen by nearly fifteen percent in the past ten years. He said this has affected what he called the first “hot” ground war in NATO history — the war in Afghanistan.
ROBERT GATES: “Despite more than two million troops in uniform – not counting the US military – NATO has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of twenty-five thousand to forty-five thousand troops, not just in boots on the ground, but in crucial support assets.”
Mr. Gates said the American share of NATO defense spending has now risen to more than seventy-five percent. This is happening at a time when budget cuts are being considered in the United States. President Obama has called for an additional four hundred billion dollars in defense reductions.
AP
Secretary of Defense Gates takes questions after his speech on NATO Friday
Mr. Gates said nations must be responsible for their fair share of the common defense. He warned about the future of NATO unless Europe stops cutting back on defense spending. He said there is “the very real possibility of collective military irrelevance” for the alliance. He said future American leaders may not consider the return on America’s investment in NATO worth the cost.
President Obama’s choice to become the next defense secretary is Leon Panetta. Mr. Panetta is currently the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA job would go to David Petraeus, currently the top American general in Afghanistan, if the Senate approves the nominations.
President Obama wants to begin withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan next month. The goal is to end United States military operations in that country by the end of twenty-fourteen.
On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a confirmation hearing for Mr. Panetta. Several senators gave him credit for being the person President Obama named to head the effort that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Mr. Panetta said he believed the killing gave the United States the best chance to defeat al-Qaida since the attacks of September eleventh, two thousand one.
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