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What is it you don't understand about the year 2024? This is 2018, look at a calendar if you don't believe me. Trump can't wait til 2024 as hopefully he will be dead by then and wouldn't be able to take credit.
'In 2006, NATO Defence Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of two per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to spending on defence.'
The NATO 2% guideline was established in 2006. Then, in 2014 (under Obama), after 8 years of NATO countries leeching off of the US defense nipple, while defense spending of other NATO countries continued to decrease, another agreement was reached that requires these nations to increase their defense spending to 2% of GDP by, at the latest, 2024.
This did not erase or newly establish the previous 2% requirement that had been agreed to in 2006. In fact, it was an admission of their failure to comply and a recognition that they would continue to fail to meet the standard they had agreed to for fully another 10 years yet.
Does that mean that the 2% standard does not apply during this interim period from 2014 - 2024? No, it doesn't. The standard still applies, these countries are just failing to meet it.
So, what happens if they are still not meeting it in 2024, as if that were some sort of magic date? How can or will this requirement then be enforced? It can't.
And why should these countries be excused - or why should they even want to be excused - from making a sufficient effort to contribute to their own national defense starting right now? Some one please answer this one for me, because nobody has yet.
Trump is re-expressing a policy that has existed for decades in this country and has been repeated by Obama and Bush II before him. We have a $21 trillion national debt, which is growing rapidly, and as strange as this may sound to some people, we cannot continue to be the primary funder of Europe's defense now over 70 years after the end of WWII. It is absurd, and the European nations know it.
The 2% requirement is probably on the low side if the European nations of NATO are as concerned about a Russian military incursion as they appear to be. The European countries are the primary beneficiaries of this arrangement. They are comparatively rich countries that are supposedly examples to the world of all that is enlightened and desirable and advanced in the world.
Just because they are fiscally irresponsible is no excuse. They still have to provide adequately for their own self defense.
Enough is enough. And no, it is not OK to wait until 2024 to see what happens. They need to start doing this now, and should have been doing it all along.
Germany is not populated with a Russian majority, nor is it a neighbor of Russia. Even so-the Germans are adults-it's up to them to provide for their own defense.
The agreement also says that countries under 2% can't lower their defense spending - countries have done this so the agreement has already been violated. Canada just announced that they will lower their defense spending and they are under 2%. The 2024 date was put in place AFTER countries weren't making any progress and many of these countries didn't start making progress until Trump started yapping away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boss
They also get to absorb the first wave if Trump's boss Putin decides to go for the Baltic states next.
If Putin is Trump's boss then:
(1) why is he increasing US military spending in Europe by $1.7 Billion? Which I think is a mistake btw.
(2) why is he encouraging NATO allies to increase spending?
(3) why did he sell missiles to Poland that Obama stopped, because Obama didn't want to upset Putin?
(4) why did he commit military strikes inside of Syria that killed Russians?
Can you answer these questions or are you just irrationally spouting off propaganda?
It’s obvious Putin has something on Trump. Never has any President talked up Russia like Trump does. Never a bad word or crass behavior like he gives our allies. Something isn’t right.
The vote was 98 to 2. That’s interesting because Trump doesn’t have the authority to withdraw from NATO because it is a treaty obligation which the U.S. signed. Withdrawing from the treaty requires 2/3 approval by the Senate.
Of course, he could reduce military expenditures in Europe. The question is why he hasn’t done so if he is so concerned about costs.
Where did you get the idea the deal was a secret. Heck, there is even a section of a Wikipedia article about it. One of the 5 paragraphs about it:
He can call all our guys & gals home too, with all our equipment.
Put them to work in the private sector filling them jobs, while enlisted among national guard staff.
'In 2006, NATO Defence Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of two per cent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to spending on defence.'
The NATO 2% guideline was established in 2006. Then, in 2014 (under Obama), after 8 years of NATO countries leeching off of the US defense nipple, while defense spending of other NATO countries continued to decrease, another agreement was reached that requires these nations to increase their defense spending to 2% of GDP by, at the latest, 2024.
This did not erase or newly establish the previous 2% requirement that had been agreed to in 2006. In fact, it was an admission of their failure to comply and a recognition that they would continue to fail to meet the standard they had agreed to for fully another 10 years yet.
Does that mean that the 2% standard does not apply during this interim period from 2014 - 2024? No, it doesn't. The standard still applies, these countries are just failing to meet it.
So, what happens if they are still not meeting it in 2024, as if that were some sort of magic date? How can or will this requirement then be enforced? It can't.
And why should these countries be excused - or why should they even want to be excused - from making a sufficient effort to contribute to their own national defense starting right now? Some one please answer this one for me, because nobody has yet.
Trump is re-expressing a policy that has existed for decades in this country and has been repeated by Obama and Bush II before him. We have a $21 trillion national debt, which is growing rapidly, and as strange as this may sound to some people, we cannot continue to be the primary funder of Europe's defense now over 70 years after the end of WWII. It is absurd, and the European nations know it.
The 2% requirement is probably on the low side if the European nations of NATO are as concerned about a Russian military incursion as they appear to be. The European countries are the primary beneficiaries of this arrangement. They are comparatively rich countries that are supposedly examples to the world of all that is enlightened and desirable and advanced in the world.
Just because they are fiscally irresponsible is no excuse. They still have to provide adequately for their own self defense.
Enough is enough. And no, it is not OK to wait until 2024 to see what happens. They need to start doing this now, and should have been doing it all along.
It’s obvious Putin has something on Trump. Never has any President talked up Russia like Trump does. Never a bad word or crass behavior like he gives our allies. Something isn’t right.
Yeah, like today when Trump publicly pushed Germany and all the countries of NATO to stop buying natural gas from Russia!
Canada is not a problem, but our dependence on OPEC has been a national security issue for some time. Fortunately, with the oil and gas bonanza that has come from Fracking, this is no longer such an issue.
Read about the possible relationship between fracking and earthquakes - seems to be the new thing.
Yeah, like today when Trump publicly pushed Germany and all the countries of NATO to stop buying natural gas from Russia!
Er, oops...wait a minute.
Russia and Germany are working together to get oil to Western Europe, and the USA wants to interfere.
Mindboggling.
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Where did you get the idea the deal was a secret. Heck, there is even a section of a Wikipedia article about it. One of the 5 paragraphs about it:
