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Amid the controversy over Donald Trump's demand that NATO nations meet their financial obligations before they expect the United States to defend them, NATO's top commander says he agrees it's important for alliance members to pay their bills. In an interview at the Aspen Security Forum, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said it's something he regularly discusses with other countries.

The liberal media has gone ballistic with the news that GOP nominee Donald Trump has called for NATO allies to pay their fair shares. While all this chaos has been occurring, Trump nabbed a new ally for his own corner — Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, also happens to be Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations. In an interview Thursday night at the Aspen Security Forum, this top commander affirmed Trump’s call for monetary compensation from America’s NATO allies, saying that America shouldn’t be shortchanged for the assistance the country provides. “What I tell them typically is that...

The Turkish Incirlik airbase in Adana, Turkey, which houses NATO forces, U.S. forces and at least 50 nuclear devices, experienced massive protests this week, yet the media and President Barack Obama have been conspicuously silent. Turkish citizens stormed the base, protesting U.S. presence there. RT reported that regional media was covering the protests, and social media reports indicated that there may have been up to 1,000 protesters present. According to RT, protesters were heard yelling anti-America and anti-Israel slogans and seen burning the U.S. and Israeli flag. According to the U.S. State Department, the consulate was closed during the protests.

Vladimir Putin is assembling a secret fleet of super submarines which could topple NATO and plunge the world into war. A report by naval experts warns that Russia already has a small but sophisticated army of subs which are capable of launching missile strikes across the globe. The deadly group of stealthy underwater weapons are currently patrolling the world and have already reportedly breached UK waters having approached the Royal Navy’s base in Faslane, Scotland. Russia is stepping up its secret submarine programme to ‘Cold War’ levels and experts warn NATO members “no longer” have the defences to stop the...

In an interview at the Aspen Security Forum, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said it's something he regularly discusses with other countries. "What I tell them typically is that look, we have a people and a Congress with a tough budget as well," Scaparrotti said Thursday night. "So as a leader of another country you have to put your share into this, you have to do that because when I go back to testify to Congress I get asked these questions." . . Scaparrotti, NATO's supreme commander, says as of now only five of the 28 NATO nations are meeting their...

A new Amnesty report details the horrific torture that thousands have been subjected to since the post-coup round-up. Following the attempted coup in July 15, upon the calls of mosques all across Turkey and of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Binali Yildirim to the Turkish people “to take to the streets and airports,” pro-government Islamists started hunting Turkish soldiers – their own soldiers – in the streets, beating, torturing, lynching them. Torture and beatings of surrendering soldiers continued at police stations, too. In a disturbing video published on social media and some Turkish newspapers, a police officer threatens...

A massive fire erupted near a NATO base in the Buca district, near Izmir, Turkey. The fire broke out on Sunday evening in western Turkey. The fire blew through the grassy wooded area and is now perilously near NATO’s military base pushed forward by strong winds.

The Western public doesn’t know it, but Washington and its European vassals are convincing Russia that they are preparing to attack. Eric Zuesse reports on a German newspaper leak of a Bundeswehr decision to declare Russia to be an enemy nation of Germany. According to a report issued on June 6th in German Economic News (Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, or DWN), the German government is preparing to go to war against Russia, and has in draft-form a Bundeswehr report declaring Russia to be an enemy nation. DWN says: “The Russian secret services have apparently thoroughly studied the paper.   In advance...

Why NATO has a ticking time bomb on its hands. On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the purge of thousands in the Turkish military – including a third of the serving generals – did not weaken the military.

Stoltenberg told Reuters, “Turkey has a large armed force, professional armed forces and... I am certain they will continue as a committed and strong NATO ally.”
 It would be interesting to know whether the 1,500 US soldiers who have been locked down at Incirlik Air Base along with several hundred soldiers from other NATO countries since the failed coup Friday night...

If there has been any constant in the Republican worldview over decades, it's that American strength, resolve and credibility are essential in foreign affairs, and weakness and uncertainty lead straight to disaster. The GOP legions regard Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as failures because they have been insufficiently willing to challenge our adversaries and stand with our friends. "Our allies don't trust us, and our enemies don't fear us" is a claim made by one Republican after another. But the Cleveland convention was a study in dissonance between the bedrock convictions of just about every loyal Republican and the opinions...

Donald Trump has claimed that the European Union was created to “beat the United States when it comes to making money” in an interview with NBC News. Speaking to Chuck Todd, whom the Republican nominee has repeatedly berated as “sleepy-eyed”, Trump also said of the EU “the reason that it got together was like a consortium so that it could compete with the United States”. The European Union was founded as the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 in an effort to promote strong cross-border ties in Europe and avoid future wars. It has since evolved to a customs...

Incirlik Air Base is located in the Ä°ncirlik quarter of the city of Adana, Turkey. The United States Air Force and the Turkish Air Force are the primary users of the base, although it is also used by the Royal Air Force and by the Royal Saudi Air Force. The air base has continued to rely on backup generators since the failed coup plunged the country into crisis. Commercial power was cut to the base in and the airspace above it closed to air traffic within hours of last Friday's attempted military takeover in the NATO country. There is little...

Germany on Friday stressed its promise to protect its NATO allies after White House hopeful Donald Trump called the commitment into question. “The German government is fundamentally committed to Article Five of the NATO treaty. That is the central promise of solidarity within the alliance,” Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks. “Collective defense according to Article Five is and remains the main duty of NATO,” Seibert added, noting that the pledge had once again been renewed at a NATO summit this month in Warsaw. …

“Turkey has a large armed force, professional armed forces and... I am certain they will continue as a committed and strong NATO ally.” On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the purge of thousands in the Turkish military – including a third of the serving generals – did not weaken the military. Stoltenberg told Reuters, “Turkey has a large armed force, professional armed forces and... I am certain they will continue as a committed and strong NATO ally.” It would be interesting to know whether the 1,500 US soldiers who have been locked down at Incirlik Air Base along...

Donald Trump has long suggested that he takes a skeptical view of the United States' alliances. However, in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday evening, the Republican presidential nominee went further than before, appearing to suggest that the United States should not be required to automatically defend NATO allies if they are attacked. Trump specifically pointed to the Baltic states that sit near Russia's borders and often complain of belligerence from Moscow. He said they would be helped only if they had "fulfilled their obligations to us." For some in those in the Baltic states — Estonia,...

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham urged Donald Trump to clarify his position on defending European allies after a New York Times article quoted the GOP presidential nominee as not fully supportive of the NATO alliance treaty. “Statements like these make the world more dangerous and the United States less safe,” Graham, R-S.C., said this morning. “I can only imagine how our allies in NATO, particularly the Balkan states must feel after reading these comments from Mr. Trump,” Graham said. “I’m 100 percent certain how Russian President Putin feels – he’s a very happy man.” Trump, in a New York Times interview...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. wouldn’t necessarily defend other NATO countries if they were attacked by Russia. In an interview with the New York Times, Mr. Trump essentially said the U.S. would not abide by the military alliance, one provision of which declares an attack on one to be an attack on all.

For example, asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are among the more recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.” Mr. Trump had nothing but praise for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s increasingly authoritarian but democratically elected leader. “I give great credit to him for being able to turn that around,” Mr. Trump said of the coup attempt on Friday night. “Some people say that it was...

Erdogan locks US airmen, nuclear arms in Incirlik DEBKAfile Special Report July 20, 2016, 11:29 AM (IDT) Tags: Erdogan, Barack Obama, Incirlik air base, Turkey, US Air Force, Turkish army, US, Some 1,500 US airmen and their families have been locked in the southern Turkish air base of Incirlik together with a stock if tactical nuclear bombs since President Reccep Erdogan crushed an attempted coup on Saturday, July 16. In the four days up until Wednesday, July 20, therefore, no air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq have been staged that Turkish base.

The United States runs its air operations against ISIS in Iraq from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. The base, used by other NATO forces as well, is not American. It is Turkish, and the U.S. needs government permission to fly from there. Since the 15 July coup attempt in Ankara, U.S. forces at Incirlik are essentially hostages to the Turkish government. The Turkish base commander and his aides have been arrested; U.S. personnel are confined to base; outside power has been cut off; and while the U.S. has been permitted to resume operations over Iraq and Syria, it is working...