Trump criticises NATO members for not paying their way.

Trump at NATO today, in a speech in front of the other member leaders, was critical of the states which have not paid 2% of GDP as agreed. Indeed only 5 make that commitment;

http://ift.tt/2r1HAUM

United States, 3.61%.
Greece, 2.38%.
Britain, 2.21%.
Estonia, 2.16%.
Poland, 2%.
France, 1.78%.
Turkey, 1.56%.
Norway, 1.54%.
Lithuania, 1.49%.
Romania, 1.48%.
Latvia, 1.45%.
Portugal, 1.38%.
Bulgaria, 1.35%.
Croatia, 1.23%.
Albania, 1.21%.
Germany, 1.19%.
Denmark, 1.17%.
Netherlands, 1.17%.
Slovakia, 1.16%.
Italy, 1.11%.
Czech Republic, 1.04%.
Hungary, 1.01%.
Canada, 0.99%.
Slovenia, 0.94%.
Spain, 0.91%.
Belgium, 0.85%.
Luxembourg, 0.44%.

He went on to point out that the USA spends more on defence than the rest put together. Well, sorry, but that is the USA's decision to spend so much.

I think there is a problem which Trump does not get. Defence, or attack?

Much of the USA's spending is is not really about defence at all, it is about the ability to go anywhere in the world and attack. Only the UK, Italy and France also have that ability because of their nuclear option, their bases around the world and/or aircraft carriers. Then, it is nothing like teh ability the USA has.

The rest are only geared up to defend and are so small that the most likely aggressor, Russia, is always going to win a one on one.

No wonder the President of Luxembourg make a comment behind his hand which made others leaders smirk. What could Luxembourg realistically add to the defence of Europe, let alone anything else?

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2rZWI2e