Pressed by Trump over defense, Germany says can pay more for NATO running costs

Reuters via YAHOO ^ | October 11, 2019 | Sabine Siebold and Robin Emmott

[Farcesensitive]

Germany is willing to contribute more to NATO's running costs as long as other allies also step up to help reduce the United States' share of funding, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Friday.

President Donald Trump has long accused European allies, especially Germany, the biggest economy in Europe, of taking U.S. security guarantees for granted and says they need to spend much more on their own defense.

With a meeting of NATO leaders looming in December, some allies now see reform of financing for the U.S.-led military alliance as a way to preempt another round of criticism from Trump and show that they are listening to his concerns.

At some $2.5 billion a year, the budget for North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters, international staff and the limited number of military assets under NATO command is a small sum compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars that allies spend on their armed forces each year.

Under a proposal now being considered by NATO, the U.S. contribution to the alliance's annual budget would fall to 16% from the current 22%, while Germany's would rise, also to 16% from 14.8%, from 2021. Other countries would also pay more.

[Farcesensitive]

We need to just leave NATO but every bit less we pay for it is good.

[Gene Eric]

I love Germany. But, to Hell with the BS.

Move the bases to Poland.

Poland is a dogged ally in the truest sense.

[pepsionice]

If you notice the wording here....’is willing’ doesn’t really mean much of anything.

With BREXIT coming, pension woes, welfare reform on the horizon, etc....I don’t see where the extra tax revenue will come from.

This was just idle chatter by the Defense Minister...nothing more than that. Reuters simply took the bait and built an entire article around it.

[Farcesensitive]

It’s something Trump can use to reduce our support or to leave NATO when they don’t follow through.

[pepsionice]

For the first time in roughly 25 years, a Reforger-exercise will occur in Germany in 2020. It’s mostly a US exercise, with a fair amount of German participation, and lesser participation by the other NATO countries.

I don’t expect this to go well. Between maintenance issues with German vehicles/aircraft and major anti-NATO/anti-US protests throughout northern Germany....it’ll turn into a joke by the end of the exercise. That’s likely to be the point where Trump lays out the events after he wins the 2020 election, and downsizes the US commitment to NATO.

[JudgemAll]

Cue the climate and UN freaks of Germany saying we should do more and they cannot even par up on NATO.

Screw this bull sht.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Take a look at the US Military–industrial complex.

The debt and spending deal includes $738 billion for defense, and the Pentagon has ‘no complaints’

On August 1, 2019, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 (H.R. 3877) was passed by the House. The next day, on August 2, 2019, the bill was passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Trump. This act increases spending by $320 billion over levels set in the Budget Control Act of 2011 and removes the possibility of budget sequestration.[3][4]

[pepsionice]

All you have to do...end the forever-wars. Bring US troops back to US soil, and stop being the global ‘cop’. The military budget would drop like a rock.

[Mark17]

The wording is utter BS, as long as other allies also step up? Those chumps will simply say, well, our other allies are not willing to step up, so they won’t either. They must think we are all a bunch of idiots. What chumps.

[billyboy15]

The simple and very obvious truth is we do not need NATO to stand up for us in any confrontation with any other Nation. Militarily (and economically) the world need the USA a whole lot more than the USA needs the rest of the world.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

What are US troops doing in Germany ?

[mac_truck]

NATO is a joke...founding member Turkey is currently conducting an ethnic cleansing operation in Northern Syria while threatening Europe with another one million refugees.

[cgbg]

If Germany refuses to protect its own borders from illegal alien invaders, then we certainly have no business protecting them from anyone.

[ferret_airlift]

How about we just say that we’ll contribute the average? Why should we foot the lion’s share of the bill? It isn’t our borders. We can have actual alliances with those that are serious, like Poland.

[DIRTYSECRET]

We had 275k troops there in the 70’s. They were there to keep GERMANY in line not the USSR. We dump them today what happens tomorrow?

[FLT-bird]

Agreed. The US should withdraw from NATO. We can strike bilateral defense treaties with real allies like the UK and Poland. It makes no sense for us to subsidize the national defense of a bunch of freeloading leeches in Europe who we know we cannot count on.

[aspasia]

EU army to DOUBLE: '60,000 troops must be deployed and Brussels must be ready TO ACT'