Critical take on the topic

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation(NATO)

The NATO is an alliance of 28 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty. The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO safeguards the allies' common values democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of disputes, and promotes these values throughout the Euro-Atlantic area. NATO is committed to defending its member states against aggression and to the principle that an attack against one or several members would be considered an attack against all.

The September 11th terrorist attacks against the United States demonstrated two things:
- The capability of a determined enemy and
- The vulnerability of Alliance members to large-scale terrorist attacks.
NATO's declaration and following operations demonstrated the Alliance's intention to deal with this threat. The NATO Defense Ministers had set a task for the NATO Military Authorities to prepare a Military Concept for Defense Against Terrorism.

The major guiding principles in the development of the Concept include:
- Having a sound legal basis and fully conform to the relevant provisions of the UN Charter and all relevant international norms, including those concerned with human rights.
- Helping to deter, defend, disrupt and protect against terrorist attacks or threat of attacks, directed from abroad against populations, territory, infrastructure and forces of any NATO member state.
- Act on a case-by-case basis, if requested, in support of the international community’s efforts against terrorism.
- Providing assistance to national authorities in dealing with the consequences of terrorist attacks, particularly where such attacks involve the use of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons.
- Working on the assumption that it is preferable to deter or prevent terrorist attacks rather than to deal with their consequences as they arise.

As the Concept was developed to defend against the threat identified in NATO’s Threat Assessment on Terrorism, the assessment thus concluded that:
- Although religious extremism is likely to be the source of the most terrorist threats, other motivations for terrorism could come from economic, social, demographic and political causes which were developed from unresolved conflicts or emerging philosophies.
- In addition, although state sponsorship of terrorism is banned, political circumstances could lead to its rise, providing terrorists with safe havens and considerable resources.
-The main form of terrorist attack remains as the creative use of conventional weapons and explosives. However, terrorist groups are expected to strive for the most destructive means available, including Weapons of Mass Destruction.





This video shows the city of Kandahar being controlled by the Taliban. Therefore NATO's Military Authorities step in to drive them out.