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| Europe |
| France, Italy reject Trump's claim on NATO spending boost |
| 2018-07-13 |
| [PRESSTV] French President Emmanuel Macron says, unlike what his American counterpart 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... has claimed, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... is not planning to increase military spending beyond the current levels. Trump jolted a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, saying in his closing remarks that NATO members had agreed to "up their commitment" and dedicate four percent of their GDP to defense instead of the current two percent. Macron, however, disputed the remarks in a news conference and said there were no such arrangements. "There is a communiqué that was published yesterday. It’s very detailed," the News Agency that Dare Not be Named quoted Macron as saying. "It confirms the goal of two percent by 2024. That’s all." "I don’t even know if it is a good measure and fits our collective security," he said of Trump's proposed spending increase. In 2014, NATO countries agreed to meet the current spending target over the next decade. The alliance has estimated that only 15 members, or just over half, will be able to hit the benchmark by then. Frustrated by the lack of "burden-sharing," Trump has time and again threatened to leave the alliance if others fail to step up contributions. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #11 To be even more fair, I’ve read that the American military also needs to spend considerably more on maintenance after the high tempo of operations since 9/11, and President Trump is doing his best to make that happen. Pushing the 4% target for NATO would help him in bargaining an increase with Congress, as I believe we are only currently spending on the order of 3.4%. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2018-07-13 22:38 |
| #10 And btw, while looking for tw's link, I found this one from the right-wing trumpkophs at the Washington Post: Afraid of a major conflict? The German military is currently unavailable. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2018-07-13 19:15 |
| #9 Thanks for the link, tw. I read it earlier and hadn't seen it. tw, this is an entirely different and legitimate question, and the problem is getting addressed right now." It's not an entirely different question if the bad maintenance habits are caused by the lack of spending. All the comparisons you mention are based on the deceptive official budget numbers of the People's Republic of China's military; if we accept them at face value they have a navy with roughly 80 destroyer and frigate class vessels vs. Germany's 16 similarly classed vessels, which is a size differential of about five times for twice the budget, neglecting such considerations as to relative readiness rates. There are lots of third-world airforces where only a quarter or less of the major fighter types are available for combat. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2018-07-13 19:13 |
| #8 tw, this is an entirely different and legitimate question, and the problem is getting addressed right now. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2018-07-13 18:39 |
| #7 From a Spectator article on the subject of Bundeswehr readiness a few weeks ago: ...a report for the German parliament earlier this year revealed the extent of the decay of its army, navy and air force. At the end of last year, the Bundeswehr had 128 Eurofighters, of which 39 could fly. It had six submarines, none of which were working when the report was compiled. Of its 13 ageing frigates, only five could sail. Of its 93 Tornado jets, 26 were ready for action. German air force trainees struggled to qualify because so few aircraft were ready for use. What would it cost to purchase the spare parts needed to repair current equipment so the mechanics can make the necessary repairs? Surely just maintaining current equipment would not make Germany into a military superpower? To be fair, it is absolutely not just Germany. The British military is in similarly dire straits, as I recall, as are the various Scandinavians’. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2018-07-13 18:09 |
| #6 "Trump jolted a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, saying in his closing remarks that NATO members had agreed to "up their commitment" and dedicate four percent of their GDP to defense instead of the current two percent." I don't know why Trump would say such nonsense. 4% of the German GDP would be 130 bn euros (or almost 40% of the total federal budget). Current defense spending is 37bn. 130 bn would be twice the Russian defense budget and almost as much China spends. Of course you want to see a German military super power, don't you? Now imagine all European countries do the same. I'm getting so tired of this crap. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2018-07-13 15:16 |
| #5 A recent tweet by a French mil reporter whined about of a lot of 575 choppers only 160 some were in good enough maintenance shape to perform a mission. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2018-07-13 12:32 |
| #4 Those anti-Trump and anti-US protests going on in Trafalgar Square tell the story. Block all calls from #10 and leave the bastards to their socialist misery. Churchill must be weeping in his grave. They're finished ! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-07-13 11:24 |
| #3 yeah it shouldn’t cost the phrench any more to drop that new rifle than the old ones.... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2018-07-13 10:26 |
| #2 Maybe the sub 2%ers can leave NATO |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2018-07-13 08:56 |
| #1 Have it your way, cheese eating surrender monkey. |
| Posted by: Raj 2018-07-13 00:22 |