Sain yllattavan sahkopostin NATOn entiselta paasihteerilta Lord Robertsonilta.

Sain yllattavan sahkopostin NATOn entiselta paasihteerilta Lord Robertsonilta:

FROM THE RT HON LORD ROBERTSON OF PORT ELLEN KT GCMG PC

Dear Mr Penttila,

Since I quoted you in this speech, and not for the first time, I thought you might like to see the whole context.

I am grateful to you for putting the case so well.

Yours sincerely,

George Robertson

Tähän hänen lainauksensa:

It took an academic from Finland, that resolutely neutral country, to put it so well. Three years ago Mr Risto Pentitila wrote this.

‘NATO provides law and order to the citizens of Bosnia and Kosovo. It patrols sea-lanes in the Mediterranean, It provides assistance to victims of hurricanes and earthquakes. It escorts children to school in Afghanistan. It educates officers in post-communist states to the virtues of democracy. It provides logistic support for the African Union. It incarcerates war criminals. It fights terrorism.’

Maybe, in the light of this account I can understand President Putin’s comment at my first meeting with him when I said that I had been the aberration in a family where my grandfather, father, brother, son, and nephew had all been police officers. ‘No aberration, Mr Secretary General’, he said, ‘you are now the super-policeman.’