Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague. I am just going back to read the charter, article V, and this is the heart and soul of NATO. It says that parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all, and consequently they agree that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, recognized by article V of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the party or parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with other parties, such action as it deems necessary, including use of armed force to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. Now, it was very clear when this was written that we envisioned the Soviet Union as the threat. That was the purpose of it. And now with the demise of the Soviet Union and the threats now being fractured into many places and of many types, we are trying to determine what is the future mission of NATO. One of my great regrets is that we are proceeding with this matter of including three new states at a time when NATO itself has not determined exactly what is to be the mission subsequent to the 1991 statement to that effect.”