this is quite unfair
1) the European "Army" already exists outside of Nato, it's called the EUROCORPS
it has 60 000 men and 700 tanks, besides air support etc...
http://www.eurocorps.org/site/index.php?language=en&content=homehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocorpsit worked in Bosnia/kosovo and is now participating to the peacekeeping in Afghanistan
2) the EUFOR is a branch of NATO, without US direct participation on the ground.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUFORthose entities have been very succesfull where they worked or work and had very few casualties.
The police force named in the article is only a complement, and a specialisation. Experiences show that experimented police is far better in many situation to assure peacekeeping than combat troops. the Iraqui experience shows it very clearly..
Today's Italy is not Mussolini's Italy even if Berlusconi is a jerk, bound to disappear in the next election...
Besides the police force is not Italian but multinational...
so please give it a break. Those guys aren't new brown shirts. And they surely can play a vital role in international missions where the US is unable to do it, due to its own shortcomings... but that's another story...