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Think of is as a loan which you promised to pay in a month, and the borrower demands you to pay up after 5 days.
More like a loan you promised to pay your friend back gradually OVER the next month and it's half-way through and not only have they not paid any back but are asking you for more.
Then you get a little upset because how are they suddenly going to "catch up" at the last minute?
But don't worry....they're "on track" to paying you back by asking to borrow more.
Here is the death toll of Canadian and European countries, most of them members of NATO, that helped fight alongside America troops in Afghanistan after terrorists attacked the United States:
I wish I could force you to talk to the families of each one of the dead and tell them that their countries "are worthless" after their loved ones died helping America when it mattered most.
So even if we only look at Europe, Finn Jarber's numbers are off. 62,000 in Europe not 30,000.
Yes, sorry. I said we used to have 300 000, but we actually had 400 000. 85% reduction.
I think Europe is happier about the reduction than US is, because they subsided those bases. Now US taxpayer has to pay to house them elsewhere.
So, what party line were you referring to again? Link? I am interested, because as an independent, I do not bother with GOP or Dem party lines. Can you educate me on the troop level party lines?
You said:
Quote:
Since the end of WWII the US has continually had more than 25,000 military personnel or more in Germany alone
Is that your party line? Way off.
Last edited by Finn_Jarber; 07-12-2018 at 07:55 AM..
So even if we only look at Europe, Finn Jarber's numbers are off. 62,000 in Europe not 30,000.
It has been a joke to keep such a strong presence in Europe for decades.
The EU has 512 million people with a GDP of $16.5 Trillion
Russia has 147 million people with a GDP of $1.7 Trillion
The USA has 323 million people with a GDP of $19.4 Trillion
Why does the EU need the USA to help protect itself from Russia?
Look at France - France has nukes, have recently reduced their military expenditures - which breaks the agreement that they freely entered into with NATO - countries under 2% of GDP spending on military weren't to make any cuts - so France is saying that they would rather spend money on their own people and not rack up as much debt than worry about a Russia that won't invade them, because they have nukes.
In terms of the US bases in Europe, a high percentage relate to projecting US power not just in relation to Russia and the Atlantic (and even Arctic) but also in relation to the Middle East, Parts of Asia and North Africa fighting the so called war on terror.
To this end there are major naval bases, logistics bases, medical facilities, intelligence bases etc, a lot of which supported US Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere.
Europe is important because it is the strategic crossroads to to other strategically important areas and continents, and the US does not have bases in Europe just out of the knidness of it's heart. Indeed no nation has foreign bases other than to protect themselves and their own interests, so don't be fooled by Trump, as the Pentagon has a very different view.
As for the 73% NATO Figure Trump sometimes likes to cite, NATO does not have a joint budget other than administrative expenses which amounts to a fairly insignificant amount, and US Defence Spending may constitute the bulk of NATO, however only a couple of pecent of this goes on European defence and only around 5% of US Active Service Personnel are based in Europe. So the fact that the US spends more on defence doesn't mean a thing as most of that defence spending (97%) does not cover Europe.
As for the European NATO allies they collectively already spend around $271 Billion on Defence annually, which is three times that of Russia and more than that combined defence soending of Russia and China combined, and this is set to increase, indeed Trump wasnted to double it again to 4%.
But we knew these things would happen when Trump got in, because of his complete lack of diplomatic experience, not to mention zero social skills. No wonder other countries won't cooperate with this pathetic administration. Europe and Canada will not be "grabbed by the p----." Instead London is going to fly a huge Baby Trump balloon to "welcome" him to their city, and Americans in the city are asked to keep a low profile. How far America has fallen on the world stage.
Now Trump is claiming the NATO members agreed to go higher than 2%, and they are saying WTF? They simply agreed to stay the course for the 2024 goal. Nothing changed.
But we knew these things would happen when Trump got in, because of his complete lack of diplomatic experience, not to mention zero social skills. No wonder other countries won't cooperate with this pathetic administration. Europe and Canada will not be "grabbed by the p----." Instead London is going to fly a huge Baby Trump balloon to "welcome" him to their city, and Americans in the city are asked to keep a low profile. How far America has fallen on the world stage.
True it's hard to be taken seriously with someone like Trump in office.
Now Trump is claiming the NATO members agreed to go higher than 2%, and they are saying WTF? They simply agreed to stay the course for the 2024 goal. Nothing changed.
What's wrong with this guy?
Hey look, a post we can agree upon.
I would like to remind everyone that NATO members obligation is not to the US.....it's to ALL the other NATO members.
Despite Trumps ravings and inaccuracies it does not give them a "free pass" to not make progress (aka increasing spending towards the 2%).
Trump will be gone soon enough, so what excuse then for the members? The same ones they made when Bush and Obama more diplomatically urged them to not be freeloaders?
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