US fears defense cuts in Europe could weaken NATO: "US officials are increasingly concerned that dramatic cuts in European defense budgets could gut the NATO alliance and leave Washington without effective military partners in Europe.
The growing transatlantic gap in military spending and technology will be looming over this week's NATO summit in Lisbon, raising tough questions about how the alliance will operate in the future, analysts and former officials said.
'In terms of having a viable alliance, this is clearly troubling,' Robert Hunter, former US ambassador to NATO, said of the budget cuts.
In Lisbon, 'it's going be in the back of everyone's minds -- how do we keep up the capabilities?'"
