War-games with a conflict on the horizon

As I climbed the rickety steps up to the Italian warship Gaibaldi, currently in Palma,I felt a sense of heaviness.I was due to attend a press conference held by Nato's Allied Forces of Southern Europe about current trainnig operations on the Spanish mainland. During these times, anything could happen and I thought of the possibility that this imposing structure may soon be sent to do its duty in Afghanistan. The ship itself is the fith in a long line of vessels named after Garibaldi the soldier, the Italian patriot. Captain's presentation talked about the Southern Alliance security policy. A Hispanic American, he talked confidently of increasing mutual understanding between cultures, and crisis management and conflict prevention. That the alliance existed to offer a humanitarian peace support operation as well as a colletive defense capability.