Yesterday, NATO decided to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya in accord with the U.N. Security Council. Today, Rush Limbaugh decided to attack NATO with his particular brand of xenophobia and ignorance. Limbaugh complained that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen -- a Dane -- spoke English with an accent: “NATO has always been us. But we have always appointed a James Bond villain type, sounding guy to run it so that it doesn't sound like an American organization.”

Limbaugh almost certainly does not know this, but while NATO's Secretary General is, by tradition, a European, NATO's senior military officer, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, has always been an American. This power-sharing not only makes sense for a multi-national trans-Atlantic alliance, it totally destroys Limbaugh's theory that NATO is trying to hide how influential the United States is in the alliance.

Limbaugh also claimed during the show that “they ought to rename [NATO] the North Africa Terrorism Alliance or some such thing.”

From today's show:

Do you know why NATO was formed? Alright, alright, alright. A lot of people don't. A lot of people don't. And a lot of people who do might ask well why does it still exist based on its original charter? Here's, exactly, this ain't nowhere near what NATO's supposed to do. NATO was a mutual, this is for those of you who didn't pay attention back them or are too young to know, NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, they ought to rename it the North Africa Terrorism Alliance or some such thing because the way it is being used here is irrelevant to its charter.

[...]

NATO has always been us. But we have always appointed a James Bond villain type, sounding guy to run it so that it doesn't sound like an American organization.

[...]

So the NATO guy had to always have a foreign accent, just like the UN guy can never be an American. [Premiere Radio Network, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 3/25/11, 3/25/11]

Rush's disgust for NATO shows his disregard for an organization of nations that have served as critical allies for the United States. And the very organization Limbaugh wants to rename as the “North African Terrorism Alliance” is assisting the United States in Afghanistan.