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| Europe |
| Germany to US: we’ll spend more on defence, you stay involved |
| 2018-02-17 |
| [PAKISTANTODAY.PK] Germany’s defence minister pledged to spend more on its military and the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... , but she called in return for other countries not to turn away from mulitlateralism. Ursula von der Leyen’s remarks came days after US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis reiterated President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s demand that European countries spend more on their militaries. In a speech on Friday to the Munich Security Conference, von der Leyen said Germany was prepared to play a bigger international role, by increasing its military spending and its contributions to the United Nations. But she urged the United States to stick to a multilateral path. "We are concerned when we see that some partners keep cutting funds for diplomacy, development cooperation and the United Nations," she said. The US State Department has been subject to deep cuts under Trump’s presidency. German military short on tanks for NATO mission [DW] The German military is under-equipped to take on its upcoming role as leader of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... 's anti-Russian defense force, a leaked document shows. Opposition politicians say the defense minister is to blame. The German military has secretly admitted that it can't fulfill its promises to NATO, according to documents leaked to Die Welt newspaper on Thursday. The Bundeswehr is due to take over leadership of NATO's multinational Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) at the start of next year, but doesn't have enough tanks, the Defense Ministry document said. Specifically, the Bundeswehr's ninth tank brigade in Munster only has nine operational Leopard 2 tanks ‐ even though it promised to have 44 ready for the VJTF ‐ and only three of the promised 14 Marder armored infantry vehicles. The paper also revealed the reason for this shortfall: a lack of spare parts and the high cost and time needed to maintain the vehicles. It added that it was also lacking night-vision equipment, automatic grenade launchers, winter clothing and body armor. The German air force is also struggling to cover its NATO duties, the document revealed. The Luftwaffe's main forces, the Eurofighter and Tornado fighter jets and its CH-53 transport helicopters, are only available for use an average of four months a year ‐ the rest of the time the aircraft are grounded for repairs and rearmament. "The state for all part-time forces are similarly worrying," Hans-Peter Bartels, parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, told Die Welt. Opposition politicians blamed Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen for allowing the military to deteriorate. According to the leaked document, the army would now be trying to cover its "capacity-relevant deficits out of the stocks of other units" ‐ even though that would impact training and exercises elsewhere. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Maybe Frau von der Leyen should look for a way to convert Korans to munitions? |
| Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2018-02-17 19:18 |
| #6 Top German diplomat: 'We no longer recognize our America' |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2018-02-17 11:34 |
| #5 Another Lucy Van Pelt moment. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-02-17 08:12 |
| #4 I'm not interested in the US military being the world's police or some other countries mercenary army. |
| Posted by: jvalentour 2018-02-17 08:03 |
| #3 You will spend more on Defense or Russia will get involved. Look at Latvia. And that STATSI Merkel invaded Europe with an army not quite her own, that evil naif. You have ruined Europe two too many times, Germany. And I AM furious over this Immigration racket. To Live or not to Live, that is the question. Nut up or nut out. |
| Posted by: newc 2018-02-17 02:16 |
| #2 Yeah they're not going to spend the money. Liars. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366 2018-02-17 00:51 |
| #1 "ran an dein feind!" |
| Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056 2018-02-17 00:22 |