Germany seeks UN Security Council seat again

DeutscheWelle ^

[kabar]

As I wrote, "With German military expenditures at €34.4 billion, the Bundeswehr is among the top ten best-funded forces in the world, even if in terms of share of German GDP, military expenditures remain average at 1.2% and below the NATO recommendation of 2%.

This has been Trump's criticism of NATO. Almost all of the members are not meeting their treaty obligations of spending 2% of GDP on defense. The US is bearing a disproportionate share of the costs. It is the same with our security agreements with other nations outside NATO. We can't afford it. We are going broke.

Obama and Congress are eviscerating our military forces with the Army, Navy, and Air Force at historic lows in terms of manpower and capabilities. Where will the money come from to rebuild it? Just as is the case in every developed country with aging populations and growing welfare costs, the choice is between guns versus butter and butter wins every time since it has more constituents.

The active duty strength of the German Army is also about the same size as the US Marine Corps. Something to think about.

Russia has an armed forces of 771,000 on active duty. We spend almost ten times on our military than Russia does. Canada has an armed forces of 68,250. The NYPD has 34,000 on duty.

but 408 tanks is a puny force for the eastern front where distances are vast and the cities are pretty big.

Tanks have become metal coffins given today's technology. They are not a measure of military strength.

[Tallguy]

Massed tanks still give an army operational mobility when combined with air support, and the firepower to deal with the inevitable nasty surprises.