Gates recalls Cold War in push for NATO spending

MUNICH, Germany, Feb 11 (Reuters) US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Europe today it must boost defence spending and commit more troops and money to Afghanistan if NATO is to remain a potent military alliance.

He said failure to provide the needed resources to win the war in Afghanistan, now more than five years old, would be a ''mark of shame'' for the world's richest countries.

''An alliance consisting of the world's most prosperous industrialized nations, with over two million people in uniform not even counting the American military should be able to generate the manpower and materiel needed to get the job done in Afghanistan,'' he told the Munich Security Conference, a gathering of world leaders.

Gates, appointed as Pentagon chief in December, sought to lift the debate among NATO allies over resources needed for Afghanistan by casting the war and threats worldwide as a test of their continued dedication to democracy and shared values.

In a speech heavy with references to the Cold War, the former CIA director said the beliefs shared by the United States and European countries during those years should still bind the allies.

He stressed the military nature of NATO's alliance and said violent Islamist groups would bow only to superior force, ''not to reason, nor to negotiation.'' ''It is the political and military power of our 26 democracies of NATO the most potent alliance in the history of the world that is the shield behind which the ideas and values we share are spreading around the globe,'' he said.

Gates, who studied the Soviet Union and Russia as a career CIA analyst, also commented on a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the conference yesterday, in which he accused the United States of trying to force its will on the world.

The US defense secretary chalked it up to the ''habit of blunt speaking'' in the spy business he and Putin came from.

''The real world we inhabit is a different and much more complex world than that of 20 or 30 years ago. We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia,'' he said.

''One Cold War was quite enough,'' Gates said.

He also said Russian arms transfers and ''its temptation to use energy resources for political coercion'' could threaten international stability.

In a jab at a 2003 comment made by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, that generated anger among some US allies and accusations of US arrogance, Gates said Europe would not be divided into ''old Europe versus new.'' Instead, he said the division was between those that do all they can to fulfill NATO's commitments and those that do not.

''NATO is not a 'paper membership,' or a 'social club' or a 'talk shop.' It is a military alliance one with very serious real world obligations,'' he said.

REUTERS SY KN1436