Trump campaigned on a promise to reform a very irrelevant, corrupt NATO.
The US President told leaders of NATO states assembled Thursday in Brussels a few hard truths…
“Twenty-three of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should.”
“Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years.”
Only five of NATO’s 28 members meet the 2% target…USA, Greece, Poland, Estonia and the UK.
The rest of NATO are a bunch of freeloaders including the very rich Germany which is set to spend 1.2% of GDP on defense this year, France at 1.79%.
Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg all spend less than 1% of GDP.
NATO is based on the principle of collective defense. The infamous Article 5 states that an attack against one or more members is considered an attack against all.
Article 5 has only been invoked once, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
For NATO to continue its wars of aggression, it is important for all members states to make sure their armed forces are ready to bomb. NATO sets an official target on how much they should spend, which currently stands at 2% of GDP.
The 2% target is described as a “guideline” and there is no penalty for not meeting it, and so must NATO members do not meet it.
Via The Economist…
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