Gate Alliance Treaty Organization (GATO)

[Janus]

I think GATO is a good idea. By international-ing the Gate, the SGC would gain access to personnel and recourses that the current (IOA) arrangement doesn't allow.

[Freekzilla]

What is your basis for this opinion? Are you well-versed in NATO and UN operations, or do you just know about the few failures that seem to be the only thing that makes the news?

Well, sorta both. I base it on some of the news that's out there, and on some personal experience I got while in the Air Force. In terms of NATO, the US military has been slowly inching away from NATO in some aspects. There was a LOT of red tape for everything. One incident was a time when the plane I was on had to make an unscheduled landing for some "technical difficulties". And this was in a NATO nation. They wouldn't let us land until their bosses had talked to our bosses, and then our bosses talked to us and then back to their bosses. It took over and hour to get permission to land even though the "problem" could have worsened to a life and death situation. And that was a friendly nation, a very friendly nation. Plus, my uncle worked at the US State Dept. So I got tidbits of insight from him, and the frustrations that can come from that job. Yes, it's second hand info and could be biased, but I trust it to be mostly accurate.

Now don't get me wrong, I think NATO and the UN are great ideas. I just don't think they are as effective as they could be. I think socio-political issues keep getting in the way. But that in itself makes the UN a remarkable thing, that humans could agree to such a thing in the first place. This is where the phrase, "Can't we all just get along?" comes in.

[Flyboy]

I have to do it......I can't resist.

El gato es muy gordo. No me gusta el gato. El gato es blanko. El gato de Chulak. El gato con queso. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The gate is very fat. I don't like the gate. The gate is... white? The gate of Chulak. The gate with cheese"

Erm... what?

[jds1982]

"The gate is very fat. I don't like the gate. The gate is... white? The gate of Chulak. The gate with cheese"

Erm... what?

Is that a serious question? You know gato, spanish for cat.

[Major Tyler]

"The gate is very fat. I don't like the gate. The gate is... white? The gate of Chulak. The gate with cheese"

Erm... what?

"Gato" means "cat" in Spanish...also, "white" in Spanish is spelled "blanco."

Put it all together and it means "off-topic."

[LORD MONK]

Well, sorta both. I base it on some of the news that's out there, and on some personal experience I got while in the Air Force. In terms of NATO, the US military has been slowly inching away from NATO in some aspects. There was a LOT of red tape for everything. One incident was a time when the plane I was on had to make an unscheduled landing for some "technical difficulties". And this was in a NATO nation. They wouldn't let us land until their bosses had talked to our bosses, and then our bosses talked to us and then back to their bosses. It took over and hour to get permission to land even though the "problem" could have worsened to a life and death situation. And that was a friendly nation, a very friendly nation. Plus, my uncle worked at the US State Dept. So I got tidbits of insight from him, and the frustrations that can come from that job. Yes, it's second hand info and could be biased, but I trust it to be mostly accurate.

Now don't get me wrong, I think NATO and the UN are great ideas. I just don't think they are as effective as they could be. I think socio-political issues keep getting in the way. But that in itself makes the UN a remarkable thing, that humans could agree to such a thing in the first place. This is where the phrase, "Can't we all just get along?" comes in.

That's why I think the US should run it alone and grab the best minds around the world to help us on it. The whole world will be taking part in the project and leave the countries and their politicians out of it, including ours. Because we are never going to ba able to get along unless we drop our secret agendas which will never happen.

[Freekzilla]

"Gato" means "cat" in Spanish...also, "white" in Spanish is spelled "blanco."

Put it all together and it means "off-topic."

Sorry, my spanish is a little rusty.

Das Sterngatter ist fett. Ich fürchte das Sterngatter. Das Gatter von Chulak.
Is that any better?

Really though, I agree with Lord Monk, politics should stay out of the SG program. When it was just the US and Russian militaries working together, things went much smoother. They were both soldiers, and had some common ground that made working together far easier. You can put any two soldiers from ANY country, and as long as they are good soldiers with integrity and honor, they will work well together. Honor knows no nationality.

This is why I think NATO is more effective and efficient than the UN. But don't they already have some "coalition" group? I mean, they have the IOA, and the US in particular has the "Home World Security" group. I think there is plenty of "administration" already. I'd rather have more "boots on the ground".

Remember, "Loyalty above all else, except honor."

[~Benjamin~]

wow GATO ,
this is a good idea to get more countries involved in the Star Gate Program so we could see more soldiers and scientists from places like wales ,scotland,England , france and germany ,maybe even australia ? i partly like atlantis because its international and they all had patches with there national flags

lets have more British

[Major Tyler]

I've drafted a detailed background to GATO, so here goes:

During the conflict with the Goa'uld/Replicators/Ori, the international community (hereafter called the "IC") accepted unquestioned U.S. command of its defenses as a practical matter - they had the experience, the technology, and the capability to do so. The International Oversight Advisory (IOA) is little more than an investment bank that has control of international funding for Stargate-related operations, but in truth they have no other power than to threaten to cut off money...money which the U.S. could get elsewhere if the IOA pushed them too far. Though the IC would prefer to have the same level of access to alien weapons and technology, they're not willing to pressure the U.S. to the point that America decides to cut them out entirely.

Now that the war is over (I'm assuming this takes place after the Ori are defeated) and there is a relatively peaceful intersteller environment, the IC is more willing to challenge the U.S. and demand equal access to the benefits of the Stargate Program (while offering to completely share the risks). The U.S. counters this demand by saying that the IC institutions (effectively, the United Nations) have been successful in fostering international cooperation on many different levels, but is notoriously inadequate in military matters and high-intensity combat.

As an olive branch, the U.S. turns the SGC into a joint U.S.-NATO Command, which basically means that 50% of the SG teams would be U.S.-only (and under sole U.S. Command), and the other 50% would be NATO troops, under the command of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) and the SACEUR (Supreme Allied Commander Europe). Since the SACEUR is always an American, this ensures that operational control of the NATO 50% is still American, while the NATO allies maintain political control of that 50% through the NAC and the Secretary-General of NATO (who is always a European).

What does this mean in practice? The U.S. 50% is only under the command of the U.S. President & Congress (political control) and the Pentagon (military control). The NATO 50% is under the command of the NATO Secretary-General & the NAC (political control) and SHAPE (military control). Just to clarify, SHAPE is to the SACEUR (at least for our purposes) what the Pentagon is to the President/Congress.

Why SHAPE and the SACEUR? Previously, SHAPE and the SACEUR only dealt with operations in Europe, but after a summit in Prague in 2003, all NATO operations anywhere (including outerspace for our purposes) is planned there. The maintenance of the "Europe" tag is strictly political/traditional. The SACEUR is always an American as stipulated by the North Atlantic Treaty because the U.S. has the greatest military might and will always contribute the most troops and resources. This will certainly remain to be the case in the Stargate Universe. As a compromise, the Secretary-General of NATO (basically the NATO President) will always be a European.

Okay, so where are we now...the SGC is now a Joint U.S.-NATO Command and after a few kinks are ironed out, it goes very well. The NATO countries are happy, but the non-NATO countries like China are not satisfied with merely a "partnership" role...they want to be a direct part of the political process. The U.S. claims that the IOA should be sufficient, but since half the Stargate Program is now funded by NATO, the U.S. really doesn't need IOA money, so the IOA becomes a lame duck. NATO even tries to take full command of the Atlantis Expedition, but the Gate Alliance Treaty had already given the IOA direct authority, and they weren't willing to give that up.

Tensions between the NATO and non-NATO members of the IOA reach the point where the North Atlantic Council decides unamimously (as all decisions must be taken in the NAC) that all NATO members will perpetually abstain from voting in the IOA on any matters other than those relating to Atlantis. In response the IOA pulls funding and this effectively ends all IOA influence in the Stargate Program.

The United Nations (which has been undergoing an indentity crisis since the revelation of the Stargate Program) is called upon by the remaining IOA members to compel NATO to honor the Gate Alliance Treaty (GAT). Since perpetual abstention is technically not a violation of the GAT, the hands of the International Court of Justice are tied. The UN Security Council is dead-locked because China vetos every resolution in protest of NATO's actions (the Russian response is more muted because their relationship with the U.S. has grown very close over the years, and NATO has been very generous in offering them influence through the NATO-Russia Cooperation Council).

China and the other protesting non-NATO IOA members do score an ideological victory when the UN General Assembly (which is not subject to veto but whose resolutions are not legally binding) passes a Resolution condemning U.S. and NATO for their unilateral control of the Stargate, and calls upon them to make the wonders and benefits of the Gate available to all citizens of this world equally.

The Resolution includes a line charging the U.S. with creating a divide in the world so deep that it threatens to relegate 2/3rds of the planet's population to obscurity and irrelevance. The technological superiority between the U.S./NATO and the rest of the world is so great, that even the threat of war falls on deaf ears. There is no doubt which side would win, and such a war would only diminish the defense of the planet as a whole. The Resolution implores the U.S. and NATO to allow the rest of the world a stake in Earth's future, and not deny them simply because it is "easier" to cooperate with friends.

In response to the Resolution, the U.S. President and the NATO Secretary-General issue a joint statement (hereafter called the "Joint Statement Challenge") saying that if the rest of the international community (IC) can prove that they are willing to cooperate on a level as never before, they will enter into negotiations for complete global equality.

Over the next few months, the Chinese end the UN Security Council (UNSC) deadlock and agree to the drastic UN reforms that the IC calls for, including reform of the veto, increasing the size of the UNSC to make it more globally representative, and other reforms that make the UN a much more modern and viable political organization (I won't go into detail about these reforms just yet). They even champion some reforms the U.S. and NATO allies were not comfortable with, but after the Joint Statement Challenge they felt obligated to support them.

The IOA still maintains control of Atlantis, but, to meet the Joint Statement Challenge, they vote to amend the Gate Alliance Treaty to make the Atlantis Expedition a UN operation (now called the Pegasus Expedition or UNPEG). The miliary command structure is transferred in its entirety from the defunct IOA to UNPEG. The newly reformed UN does a stellar job of commanding Atlantis, and the non-NATO international community claims that it has completely satisfied the Joint Statement Challenge.

Unable to deny this, the U.S. and NATO now enter negotiations to share command. After tense negotiations, the U.S. rules out direct UN control of the Stargate, which China and the former IOA intially demanded. The creation of a NATO-like organization based on the Gate Alliance Treaty is the compromise. Basically the NATO structure/rules/headquarters/resources/etc. are transferred wholesale to GATO. NATO ceases to be, but it's effectively the same organization but is now open to all countries of the world. Every country doesn't join right away, of course, but the point is that now every country can join if they meet certain requirements. Nations like China, Russia, Australia, Japan, and South Korea are admitted immediately, and others begin negotiations (we don't really have to go into specifics of who joins when).

As it relates to the Stargate Program, the U.S. hoped to simply transfer the NATO 50% to the new GATO, but the other NATO allies (seeing an opportunity to increase their own influence) oppose this in support of GATO taking command of the entire operation. The U.S. doesn't like this one bit, but is forced to accept it when they find themselves relatively alone. They are easily able to demand the concession that at least 51% of SGC forces will be U.S. forces, so that the operational commander will always be an American (ie. Landry will still be the General and in unquestioned command...he just answers directly to the Gate Alliance Council (or whatever you want to call it) in Brussels and the Supreme Allied Commander Terra (SACTER), rather than the President and the Pentagon.

While it is clear that this is good for the IC, why would the U.S. ever agree to it? The simple fact is, influence in NATO (and by extension, GATO) is based on capabilities. If GATO wants something done, the U.S. has to approve or there's no way it would happen. Also, the SGC Commander will always be American because (as the rules of NATO, and now GATO, state, the nation with the highest troop contribution will take operational command) at least 51% of SGC personnel are guaranteed to be American.

Plus, the Gate Alliance Treaty also stipulates that the SACTER will always be an American. The SACTER will take the role as the Supreme Commander for all GATO operations off of the planet (basically a five-star general), leaving the SACEUR with operational control of NATO commitments (which GATO inherited) on the planet. Another reform to note is that now the Secretary-General of GATO can be of any nationality except American, as a balance to the SACTER always being American. Add to this a reform allowing the SACEUR to be of any nationality (but that doesn't affect the SGC).

Oh, and the SACTER should be based in Norfolk, Virginia where SACT Headquarters is today...SACT can become the Supreme Allied Command Terra (right now it's the Supreme Allied Command Transformation, but that won't be needed under GATO). An additional benefit is that the Pentagon is close by, and no doubt it's resources will be invaluable to the GATO mission.

Does this make any sense to you all? I hope so, because I had a lot of fun dreaming it up. :-)

Let me know what you think,
Matt

P.S. I recommend using Wikipedia for more information on many of the terms I've used. Here are some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHAPE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Allied_Commander
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...curity_Council
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...neral_Assembly

[mrdice87]

[U] I had a lot of fun dreaming it up. :-)

i sure hope so... it would be a pain to type that for no reason

[Kingomon]

Good Idea but then it would be moved out of the US control.
Which Russia would take back the gate(which was US in the first place) for the good of the GATO and Sg-1 might be cut out of the gate.

[Major Tyler]

Good Idea but then it would be moved out of the US control.

No it wouldn't. If you read my draft carefully, you would have seen that the Supreme Allied Commander Terra (SACTER) is stipulated to always be American, and the SGC would be at least 51% American, ensuring that operational control of the SGC would stay in U.S. hands.

Which Russia would take back the gate(which was US in the first place) for the good of the GATO and Sg-1 might be cut out of the gate.

That couldn't happen because the Russians gave up all claims to the Stargate when the U.S.

Spoiler:

gave them the Korolev

at the end of Season 9. That was part of the deal.

[Kingomon]

No it wouldn't. If you read my draft carefully, you would have seen that the Supreme Allied Commander Terra (SACTER) is stipulated to always be American, and the SGC would be at least 51% American, ensuring that operational control of the SGC would stay in U.S. hands.
That couldn't happen because the Russians gave up all claims to the Stargate when the U.S.

Spoiler:

gave them the Korolev

at the end of Season 9. That was part of the deal.

Really, I guess I must have missed it. I just thought that was to keep them from skiping the deal. Well at least the Gate is back to being owned by the Country that open end it first the Good old USA(in Stargate, not the Real one).
Well any way as for the Gate I still say what I said but with some changes. I say they pick up a gate and DHD and give it to the GATO so that place can be in neutral control and American would still have it's own Gate and base

[Major Tyler]

I say they pick up a gate and DHD and give it to the GATO so that place can be in neutral control and American would still have it's own Gate and base

Unfortunately only one Stargate can be active per planet since each planet only has one address. One of the Gates would always take precedence over the other.

[LORD MONK]

Unfortunately only one Stargate can be active per planet since each planet only has one address. One of the Gates would always take precedence over the other.

I personaly like the gate operations only under the USA. If it had to me any other way, it would be under GATO for sure. The Western part of the world is totally different then the East. We all pretty much get along over here.

To be honest I would only like for the Canadians, UK, and the Russians giving the fact that they already know about it, should be in control.

That is three different ways that I believe in. The first one is impossible and the second one is made up and the third one is more plausable.

That is in real life.
In the Stargate Universe, GATO totally.