[kabar]

Of course I get it. Do you have a reading comprehension problem? The European countries must start paying for their own defense and NATO must come up with a new mission.

The US is looking towards the Pacific and Far East. Together, the Chinese and Japanese hold $1.5 trillion of our national debt or about one-helf of the foreign holdings. Our four largest trading partners are Candada, Mexico, Japan, and China. And the greatest potential military and economic threat is China.

Russia is a country in decline. Its population of 140 million people is headed for a major decline with an annual population growth of minus0.467% and a fertility rate of 1.41 children born/woman. The male life expectancy rate at birth is 59.33 years and the national rate is 66 years or 177th in the world. If it weren't for its nuclear arsenal and oil, Russia would be considered a third world country. Europe with a population of over 300 million and a much bigger economy should be able to deal with any Russian military threat, especially if the US provides the nuclear umbrella.

And to suggest that Valdas Adamkus (again, for example) is "denigrating" the Bush 43 Administration is simply odd. He was one of the Bush 43Administration's biggest supporters as President of Lithuania, and worked in the Bush 41 Administration.

Everyone who signed the letter should be held responsible for what is in it. I suggest you reread it. The letter also contains the familiar attack on the visa wavier system, which is set by Congress and not the WH. Moreover, it is based on specific standards, e.g., visa refusal rates, which countries must meet to be eligible. Poland does not meet those current standards.

Europe must be more responsible for its own defense. The US is the world's largest debtor nation. We cannot afford to absorb these costs any longer. We have been living beyond our means for decades. And Obama will quadruple our debt in the next 10 years without cap and trade and nationalized health care.

The third largest line item in the federal budget [after the entitlement programs and national defense] is the costs of servicing the national debt or about $400 billion. In less than a decade it will be about a $1 trillion. And by 2016 SS will go in the red followed closely by Medicare. You can bet that defense will be cut to make up the shortfalls. We already have a navy of less than 300 ships, down from the 600 we had in the 1960s when I was in the US Navy.

[1rudeboy]

You are pounding a square peg into a round hole. These are sovereign nations with a legitimate concern for their safety. The Lithuanians have gotten over being sold down the river time and time again, including by the Americans. They aren't whining even a bit as loud as you are. You expect them to go quietly because they owe us?

Let's cut to the chase: are you in the middle of some Pat Buchanan paleotard foreign policy fantasy? Because it would explain a lot.