Brussels – A top NATO general is conceding that parts of the military alliance need to be brought up to date following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that NATO is “obsolete.”
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Reacting to Trump’s criticism in an interview this week, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation General Denis Mercier said Tuesday, “We see that there is a need for adaptation.”
Mercier acknowledged that NATO has “some structures that are obsolete.”
He says the military alliance probably has focused too much on deploying troops abroad, so-called expeditionary warfare, particularly its operation in Afghanistan.
Mercier says the alliance wants to revamp its approach to counter-terrorism, in part by helping countries under threat to develop long-term plans to fight extremists.
Germany was one of a number of European nations stunned by Trump’s remarks.
Trump says it, he’s an idiot. A general says it, he’s clever.