President Trump traveled to Europe to meet with leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Angela Merkel before continuing his whirlwind trip to London and Helsinki. And Trump delivered a powerful and very direct statement to our key European allies saying that they themselves needed to step up to the plate in financially supporting the cause. It didn't take minutes, of course, for our illustrious media to come out with their standard talking points about how Trump doesn't know what he is doing and that he is destroying our relationship with our good allies.
Funny thing is, one particular ally, Germany hasn't been acting like an ally. Furthermore, Chancellor Merkel hasn't been acting much like a German recently, subjugating her citizens to hordes of ingrates from the Middle East who have used their good fortune to rob, beat and rape German citizens while being on the German dole. And Merkel, now subject to much animosity from her own Parliament which is growing tired of her nonsense, had to face the wrath of our President as he rightly called her out as well as the entire NATO organization.
I was a young American Army officer in Germany for over three years in the 1970s and the issues that Trump is talking about were happening then as well. It was during the '70s when Germany announced it was beginning a pipeline deal with Russia for oil. America questioned it, concerned about what would happen if the Russians reneged, but they went ahead with it, just not nearly as completely as today. Now, Merkel has worked out a sweetheart deal from Russia to sell her seventy percent of Germany's natural gas needs with one of her former Ministers working for the Russian company. Think any money exchanged hands under the table on that one, and remember, the deal was done for Germany alone and the NATO alliance was never informed. Should Germany get in a pickle if Russia shuts off the spigot, however, you can bet Merkel will be on the horn to NATO to help her.
And speaking of NATO, as an Infantry officer stationed in Germany, it was the American forces who were always put on the front lines of aggression at the Fulda Gap. The large winter training area at Wildflecken, adjacent to the border and armored cavalry units, was the spot where the Russians would have come across if conflict began. It's why we were there; to show Germany we were there for them. We got no special privileges from Germany, we just did the dirty work despite their huge war debts which we forgave. And even today, American forces in Germany do the dirty work since the German Army is woefully inadequate. They are under trained and woefully lacking in equipment, except the cut glass beer stein that is issued with their mess equpment.
But here's the real kicker with NATO. The agreement to be a member state says all twenty eight member nations must pay at least two percent of their gross domestic product for defense. Most recent figures show that only five nations meet that level, the United States at nearly four percent, while Greece, Britain, Estonia and Poland meet or exceed the two percent level. At the other end of the spectrum is Germany at one and two tenths percent. So, Germany worked a deal with the country which NATO is aligned against for fuel while her best allies could provide it at lower rate. And she doesn't pay her fair share for NATO either. I don't see that as much of an ally and Trump called her out.
President Donald Trump is doing just exactly what he said he would do and both the Europeans and the long term State Department establishment types don't like it. Truth is frequently not popular, but while our diplomatic bureaucrats negotiate the same old, same old forever and nothing ever changes, Trump is setting in motion plans to make those changes. Instead of whining about Trump, we should all be celebrating his accomplishments. And if you don't because you really don't like America the way she was built, well, maybe you should look for another home. The real America is back with a vengeance and the world will be a much better place for it.
Funny thing is, one particular ally, Germany hasn't been acting like an ally. Furthermore, Chancellor Merkel hasn't been acting much like a German recently, subjugating her citizens to hordes of ingrates from the Middle East who have used their good fortune to rob, beat and rape German citizens while being on the German dole. And Merkel, now subject to much animosity from her own Parliament which is growing tired of her nonsense, had to face the wrath of our President as he rightly called her out as well as the entire NATO organization.
I was a young American Army officer in Germany for over three years in the 1970s and the issues that Trump is talking about were happening then as well. It was during the '70s when Germany announced it was beginning a pipeline deal with Russia for oil. America questioned it, concerned about what would happen if the Russians reneged, but they went ahead with it, just not nearly as completely as today. Now, Merkel has worked out a sweetheart deal from Russia to sell her seventy percent of Germany's natural gas needs with one of her former Ministers working for the Russian company. Think any money exchanged hands under the table on that one, and remember, the deal was done for Germany alone and the NATO alliance was never informed. Should Germany get in a pickle if Russia shuts off the spigot, however, you can bet Merkel will be on the horn to NATO to help her.
And speaking of NATO, as an Infantry officer stationed in Germany, it was the American forces who were always put on the front lines of aggression at the Fulda Gap. The large winter training area at Wildflecken, adjacent to the border and armored cavalry units, was the spot where the Russians would have come across if conflict began. It's why we were there; to show Germany we were there for them. We got no special privileges from Germany, we just did the dirty work despite their huge war debts which we forgave. And even today, American forces in Germany do the dirty work since the German Army is woefully inadequate. They are under trained and woefully lacking in equipment, except the cut glass beer stein that is issued with their mess equpment.
But here's the real kicker with NATO. The agreement to be a member state says all twenty eight member nations must pay at least two percent of their gross domestic product for defense. Most recent figures show that only five nations meet that level, the United States at nearly four percent, while Greece, Britain, Estonia and Poland meet or exceed the two percent level. At the other end of the spectrum is Germany at one and two tenths percent. So, Germany worked a deal with the country which NATO is aligned against for fuel while her best allies could provide it at lower rate. And she doesn't pay her fair share for NATO either. I don't see that as much of an ally and Trump called her out.
President Donald Trump is doing just exactly what he said he would do and both the Europeans and the long term State Department establishment types don't like it. Truth is frequently not popular, but while our diplomatic bureaucrats negotiate the same old, same old forever and nothing ever changes, Trump is setting in motion plans to make those changes. Instead of whining about Trump, we should all be celebrating his accomplishments. And if you don't because you really don't like America the way she was built, well, maybe you should look for another home. The real America is back with a vengeance and the world will be a much better place for it.
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