NATO

[Aegon_Targaryen]

We are NATO, we fund it and contribute to it by far the most. NATO is more of an agreement among countries, rather than an actual entity. That is all.

 

[h-hawk]

Yeah, treaties are only as good as the word of the countries involved. France and Great Britain ignored treaties to protect Czechoslovakia in order to appease Hitler and for all practical purposes gave away Poland as well since they took no offensive action against Germany to aid the Poles.

 

[naturalmwa]

Originally posted by h-hawk:
Yeah, treaties are only as good as the word of the countries involved. France and Great Britain ignored treaties to protect Czechoslovakia in order to appease Hitler and for all practical purposes gave away Poland as well since they took no offensive action against Germany to aid the Poles.

Is the US doing this now with respect to Ukraine? Seems we might be ignoring our obligations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum which calls for us to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

 

[bladel]

Originally posted by naturalmwa:

Originally posted by h-hawk:
Yeah, treaties are only as good as the word of the countries involved. France and Great Britain ignored treaties to protect Czechoslovakia in order to appease Hitler and for all practical purposes gave away Poland as well since they took no offensive action against Germany to aid the Poles.

Is the US doing this now with respect to Ukraine? Seems we might be ignoring our obligations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum which calls for us to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

We are not in violation of Budapest. But Russia certainly is.

Betcha Ukraine would love to have a mulligan on giving up those CCCP nukes....

 

[Nat Algren]

Disband NATO NOW.

 

[lucas80]

Interesting story on the BBC the other morning. There is an election going on in the UK and both of the major parties are talking about cutting defense spending. Supposedly NATO has rules about spending a certain percentage of the GDP on defense spending. Very few of the nations are meeting their obligations, and even the level in the UK may dip below it's prescribed number.

 

[naturalmwa]

Originally posted by lucas80:
Interesting story on the BBC the other morning. There is an election going on in the UK and both of the major parties are talking about cutting defense spending. Supposedly NATO has rules about spending a certain percentage of the GDP on defense spending. Very few of the nations are meeting their obligations, and even the level in the UK may dip below it's prescribed number.

The US has been subsidizing Europe in this way for years. We should slap a NATO tax on all EU goods.

 

[Nat Algren]

In 2012, NATO had outspent Russia 9-1.

 

[naturalmwa]

Originally posted by Nat Algren:
In 2012, NATO had outspent Russia 9-1.

Just a guess, but I bet it was like the US outspent Russia 8.9-1 and the rest of NATO chipped in some tents and blankets. Interestingly enough however, as a percent of GDP, Russia outspends us almost 2-1.

 

[Nat Algren]

Originally posted by naturalmwa:

Originally posted by Nat Algren:
In 2012, NATO had outspent Russia 9-1.

Just a guess, but I bet it was like the US outspent Russia 8.9-1 and the rest of NATO chipped in some tents and blankets. Interestingly enough however, as a percent of GDP, Russia outspends us almost 2-1.

NATO= almost $1 Trillion::::::: Russia = nearly $100 Billion

 

[h-hawk]

Originally posted by naturalmwa:

Originally posted by h-hawk:
Yeah, treaties are only as good as the word of the countries involved. France and Great Britain ignored treaties to protect Czechoslovakia in order to appease Hitler and for all practical purposes gave away Poland as well since they took no offensive action against Germany to aid the Poles.

Is the US doing this now with respect to Ukraine? Seems we might be ignoring our obligations under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum which calls for us to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

For me this is another example of Putin using the Hitler playbook - making agreements he just ignores as soon as it is convenient. But not saying Putin is as evil as Hitler or Stalin. That would be scary.

Wanted to also add that it is understandable that France and Great Britain were leery of another major war so soon after WWI. If they had made a treaty with the USSR, as the Russians had actually desired, Hitler may have been slowed down if not stopped early. But the West was at least as afraid of the Commies as they were the upstart Nazis.