Pence to NATO: You’d better step up your game by Christmas, folks

Hot Air ^ | Febuary 20,2017 | Ed Morrissey

[Hojczyk]

Note too that Pence specifically took ownership of this position:

US President Donald Trump expects NATO allies to make real progress by the end of this year towards meeting the increased defence spending target agreed by the alliance, his Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.

“The president and the American people expect our allies to keep their word and to do more in our common defence … the president expects real progress by the end of 2017,” he said.

“If you have a plan to get there, our alliance needs you to accelerate it,” Pence said. “If you don’t yet have a plan, these are my words, not his — get one. It is time for actions, not words.”

For a little background on this, AFP notes that Mattis also warned NATO last week that the administration might choose to “moderate” its commitment if the member nations don’t accelerate the increase of funding to the common defense. In other words, the warning isn’t just campaign rhetoric in the Trump administration — and in fact, it’s not even their idea.

Three years ago, the alliance voted to boost their investment in NATO, increasing each nation’s commitment to two percent of GDP. So far, though, only five of the 28 nations in the alliance have met those targets, and one of them is the US. The others, according to AFP, are the UK, Poland, Greece, and Estonia —

a nation which understands the urgency involved. One could make the argument that the EU’s continuing bailout of Greece is making it possible for them to comply too, but that hardly lets everyone else off the hook.

[Little Ray]

VP Pence needs to also point to the Euroweenies that their military is a not a social program... Just in case they try to weasel out that way.

[Spktyr]

Good. The Euros will now have to begin choosing between their lavish welfare states aka vote-buying and paying for their own defense.

[bigbob]

When Trump said “NATO is obsolete” I think that meant the old model in which the US does all the work and the other don’t pay their share. Staying committed to NATO doesn’t mean we are going to be chumps.

[LucyT]

Pence to NATO: You’d better step up your game by Christmas, folks

Comments w article;

The US funds over 70% of NATO'S budget. ... Out of $900 billion spent annually on NATO America accounts for $650 billion of it.

Enough excuses for the deadbeats in NATO, in particular for the German succubus. It's been more than 75 years since the end of WWII and the US-UK liberation of western Europe, and its been 25 years since the end of the cold war and liberation of eastern Europe. - Time for long-time allies and newer friends to act like adult countries and fulfill the most basic requirements of a nation-state; to keep their citizens safe by providing for the common defense. If not, they don't deserve to exist..

There are only five NATO countries meeting their treaty obligation of spending at least a paltry 2% of their GDP for a military for their own defense. Aside from the US and UK, there is tiny Estonia, front-line Poland, and broke Greece.. The rest, to varying degrees, are stiffing NATO.

Particularly insulting are those deadbeats that have been, or currently on, the front-line and who are unwilling to take their security seriously. They are:.

Hungary - spends 1.01% of their GDP, stiffing NATO 1.2B annum..

Denmark spends 1.17% of GDP, stiffing NATO 2.5B per annum.

Slovakia, spends 1.16% of GDP, stiffing NATO 279M per annum.

Germany spends 1.19% of GDP stiffing NATO 27.5B per annum.

Romania, 1.48%, stiffing NATO 933M per annum..

Latvia, 1.45%, stiffing NATO 149M per annum..

Lithuania, 1.49%, stiffing NATO 210M per annum..

Turkey, 1.56%. stiffing NATO 2.2B per annum..

The German shortfall, in particular, is insufferable. For fifty years NATO defended West Germany from a Soviet invasion. Today, while the Germans reputedly spend 50 percent of their government budget on their lavish welfare state, and spend billions more on refugee programs and "green" energy fads, they have the gall to whine about Poland and the US holding joint operations? (The German Army is a nothing-burger of 238 tanks).

It is Poland who will now take the brunt of any Russian aggression, and if Germany, the richest country in Europe, does not have the spine to trim entitlements in order to defend themselves, why should anyone defend them? Really?.

As it stands, most of Europe shorts NATO a total of 105 billion a year. Its time for them to pay up or get out of NATO. If not, perhaps the US ought to let them know they will no longer be obligated to defend them..

[TalBlack]

It’s my impression that Trump’s VP is more engaged than VP’s of the recent past. Anyone else get this feeling?

[Founding Father]

It’s my impression that Trump’s VP is more engaged than VP’s of the recent past. Anyone else get this feeling?

Definitely and that's just what you would expect from Trump. The man has an asset...he uses it.

[Founding Father]

It’s my impression that Trump’s VP is more engaged than VP’s of the recent past. Anyone else get this feeling?

Definitely and that's just what you would expect from Trump. The man has an asset...he uses it.

[chuckee]

Merkel told Pence yesterday Germany is making progress in
their defense spending and they expect to be fully invested in 8 years!! Personally I do not care how much the EU eventually contributes, I want the US out of this most entangling of all permanent alliances that George Washington warned the Republic against. Next time a million people show up in their center cities to protest the US, they should throw a net around them and drag them to the Russian front as fodder for Russian target practice.

[PGR88]

Europeans live in a leftist bubble, whose pillars are massive debt, a totally printed currency, and control over media and large business. The US plays a role too, securing their defense and helping the progressives in Brussels make sure the outlier states are tied to their social-engineering politics and schemes.

We are seeing the next phase of these European social engineering schemes.

End NATO - make Europe defend itself.

[Psalm 144]

Only about a half century late notice to our military parasites, but better late than never.

Besides, every pfennig the EUniks have to spend on their own defense is one less the grifters can give to their Moslem ‘guests’.

[connyankee]

100% not to mention the fact that he rolls up to a President that lets him have autonomy, trusts his judgment and doesn’t hold him back to look like he’s someone to just pull the chair out for him.

[Mariner]

It’s important to note the NATO agreement on defe3nse spending has assigned percentages for equipment, supplies/ammo and personnel.

So they can’t cheat by expanding the Boy Scouts.

[Bodega]

Yes. End NATO and the UN while you are at it.

Make them pay their way. Some of the money we don’t pay to them for their needs could go to us here at home. I need a social security raise as $1300 a month is just not hacking it...and

...yes, I am poor because I paid of medical bills of my late husband to the tune of almost $400.000. Now it is social security...so let’s help us at home first. Selfish, aren’t I? It’s just very hard to make it on $1300 bucks a month, you know.

[SgtHooper]

Nice to hear from you, VP Pence!! Bring the hammer down!

[SgtHooper]

8 years? Unacceptable. 27 Bn is peanuts. Pull out of that dam country. Kick em out of the UN for defaulting on payments there as well, perhaps.