NATO has never been closer to dissolution. But is it actually that close? Should we really care? And what must happen to turn our freeloading "allies" into partners not dependents.
"That’s what the president was trying to do with the 2 percent of GDP defense spending target, which now, to be fair, NATO has met."
No, they haven't. Many NATO countries are using accounting gimmicks to claim that they reached 2%. Italy, for example, spends 1.5% - but then it counts military pensions, the space program and tax police as "defense spending". It goes without saying that re-classifying tax police as a "defense spending" will not result in more tanks, airplanes or warships.
Same for many other countries. Canada, for example, recently "reached" the 2% goal. How? The same way, through various opaque accounting gimmicks that count things like VA benefits as military spending.
This is a common practice. Not universal - Poland is an exception that proves the rule.
“As early as 1951, Dwight Eisenhower, the first Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said that if U.S. troops were to be stationed in Europe for more than ten years, then the whole project would be a failure.“ German Marshal Fund - https://www.gmfus.org/news/natos-obsolescence-never-happened
👏👏👏 Thank you, Dr. Martin! I too am pro-NATO. I think it’s essential alliance whereby America and it’s allies in Canada and Europe can ensure the free world is protected. We need NATO now more than ever given Russia and China are threatening us and all these Islamist terrorist groups out there. All that being said, the nations of NATO other than the United States are freeloaders. They refuse to pay their fair share. They think they can depend on us to defend them eternally. Donald Trump has shown them that is in fact, not the case. Frederich Merz is a total fool and a bad ally who won’t listen to reason. So, Trump pulled 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany who we don’t need there anyway. He has also indicated he’d be willing to pull U.S. troops out of Italy and Spain. I agree with this 100% as they refused to help us during the Iran War. Let’s bring those boys and girls home and stop waisting our money on totally unnecessary troop deployments.
Who can they help defend us against? No one. Who can we defend them against? Any enemy who threatens them. But we don’t need to. They need to defend themselves! They need to massively increase military spending and the size of their militaries. Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others need to have strong militaries of their own that can protect their own country. They need to stand on their own two feet! Top GOP lawmakers and the Pentagon are whining that this is unfair and sends the “wrong message to Russia!” Okay, well first of all kept your shirts on! Trump is keeping most of the troops in Germany and he’s also looking to draw down troops in a couple countries. 2) Russia is dangerous yes, but at the moment isn’t recently in any position to be a threat. 3) Nothing against the Germans at all, but they need to have a robust German Army, Navy and Air Force and not rely on the American safety net to catch them when they fall.
Our NATO allies need to pay 50% of the cost for the upkeep of the alliance and stop making the United States foot most of the bill. They also need to quit whining about the tariffs. You guys will be okay, you pay them. They also need to be there for us when they need our help. President Trump is showing them tough love, and they need to be grateful for it. Merz needs to be ousted from power in Germany, he is a pathetic, weak little man who couldn’t lace Konrad Adenauer’s boots. Giorgi Meloni and Pedro Sanchez also need to cut out. Their not very good leaders either.
May is Jewish-American Heritage Month, I’ve got some excellent volumes on Jewish-American History for all in the Rod Martin Report’s audience to celebrate!
* American Judaism: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna
* The Jews in Colonial America by Oscar Reiss
* Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best by Neal Bascomb
* The Jewish South: An American History by Shari Rubin
* Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century America by Shari Rubin
* A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom by Adam Jortner
* Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery by Richard Kreitner
* Jewish in America: Living George Washington’s Promise by Richard Rubin
* Lincoln’s Jewish Spy: The Life and Times of Issachar Zacharie by E. Lawrence Abel
Europe needs to prepare harder, because right now, the UK has more admirals than warships, and Germany sends troops to NATO exercises with broomsticks for lack of rifles.
America wants partners not dependents, especially surly dependents who lecture us constantly while they fund Russia's war, with energy purchases they never should have made to begin with.
But if they really do step up as you suggest, America will be perfectly happy with them.
"That’s what the president was trying to do with the 2 percent of GDP defense spending target, which now, to be fair, NATO has met."
No, they haven't. Many NATO countries are using accounting gimmicks to claim that they reached 2%. Italy, for example, spends 1.5% - but then it counts military pensions, the space program and tax police as "defense spending". It goes without saying that re-classifying tax police as a "defense spending" will not result in more tanks, airplanes or warships.
Same for many other countries. Canada, for example, recently "reached" the 2% goal. How? The same way, through various opaque accounting gimmicks that count things like VA benefits as military spending.
This is a common practice. Not universal - Poland is an exception that proves the rule.
You're not wrong.
“As early as 1951, Dwight Eisenhower, the first Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, said that if U.S. troops were to be stationed in Europe for more than ten years, then the whole project would be a failure.“ German Marshal Fund - https://www.gmfus.org/news/natos-obsolescence-never-happened
👏👏👏 Thank you, Dr. Martin! I too am pro-NATO. I think it’s essential alliance whereby America and it’s allies in Canada and Europe can ensure the free world is protected. We need NATO now more than ever given Russia and China are threatening us and all these Islamist terrorist groups out there. All that being said, the nations of NATO other than the United States are freeloaders. They refuse to pay their fair share. They think they can depend on us to defend them eternally. Donald Trump has shown them that is in fact, not the case. Frederich Merz is a total fool and a bad ally who won’t listen to reason. So, Trump pulled 5,000 U.S. troops out of Germany who we don’t need there anyway. He has also indicated he’d be willing to pull U.S. troops out of Italy and Spain. I agree with this 100% as they refused to help us during the Iran War. Let’s bring those boys and girls home and stop waisting our money on totally unnecessary troop deployments.
Who can they help defend us against? No one. Who can we defend them against? Any enemy who threatens them. But we don’t need to. They need to defend themselves! They need to massively increase military spending and the size of their militaries. Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and others need to have strong militaries of their own that can protect their own country. They need to stand on their own two feet! Top GOP lawmakers and the Pentagon are whining that this is unfair and sends the “wrong message to Russia!” Okay, well first of all kept your shirts on! Trump is keeping most of the troops in Germany and he’s also looking to draw down troops in a couple countries. 2) Russia is dangerous yes, but at the moment isn’t recently in any position to be a threat. 3) Nothing against the Germans at all, but they need to have a robust German Army, Navy and Air Force and not rely on the American safety net to catch them when they fall.
Our NATO allies need to pay 50% of the cost for the upkeep of the alliance and stop making the United States foot most of the bill. They also need to quit whining about the tariffs. You guys will be okay, you pay them. They also need to be there for us when they need our help. President Trump is showing them tough love, and they need to be grateful for it. Merz needs to be ousted from power in Germany, he is a pathetic, weak little man who couldn’t lace Konrad Adenauer’s boots. Giorgi Meloni and Pedro Sanchez also need to cut out. Their not very good leaders either.
May is Jewish-American Heritage Month, I’ve got some excellent volumes on Jewish-American History for all in the Rod Martin Report’s audience to celebrate!
* American Judaism: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna
* The Jews in Colonial America by Oscar Reiss
* Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best by Neal Bascomb
* The Jewish South: An American History by Shari Rubin
* Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth-Century America by Shari Rubin
* A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom by Adam Jortner
* Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery by Richard Kreitner
* Jewish in America: Living George Washington’s Promise by Richard Rubin
* Lincoln’s Jewish Spy: The Life and Times of Issachar Zacharie by E. Lawrence Abel
The Russia–Ukraine war isn’t just a battlefield anymore.
It’s a blueprint.
Drone warfare, cyber tactics, and constant surveillance
Are now redefining how wars are fought.
And NATO is paying close attention.
Across Europe:
Defense strategies are being rewritten
Military budgets are rising
Security concerns are expanding beyond borders
Here’s the shift:
This war isn’t just about territory.
It’s shaping the future of warfare.
Autonomous systems
Low-cost drones
Persistent conflict
The uncomfortable truth:
What’s being tested in Ukraine today
Will be standard in conflicts tomorrow.
And Europe is preparing for that reality.
Europe needs to prepare harder, because right now, the UK has more admirals than warships, and Germany sends troops to NATO exercises with broomsticks for lack of rifles.
America wants partners not dependents, especially surly dependents who lecture us constantly while they fund Russia's war, with energy purchases they never should have made to begin with.
But if they really do step up as you suggest, America will be perfectly happy with them.