Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel today issued a call for the European members of NATO to dramatically increase military spending, saying the alliance was in “danger” because of their failure to spend more.
Hagel cited Russia’s annexation of the Crimea, saying that “reminded NATO of its founding purpose” of containing Russian advancement into Europe, and could serve as a “clarifying moment.”
Hagel complained the other NATO nations were putting a “lop-sided burden” on the United States, which spends more than the whole rest of NATO combined, and many-fold more than Russia does.
Hagel’s comments are just the latest in a long line of calls from US officials to increase spending on the military across Europe, calls that began long before the Russian annexation of Crimea, and have only recently been spun as having anything to do with Russia.
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I am so disappointed in Hagel. I was duped, I admit. I actually thought that Hagel had not succumbed to drinking the cup of Stupid most in Washington thrive upon. How many generations will we have to pass through before the anti-Russian for the sake of being anti-Russian sentiment is washed out of the US national psyche?
NATO, of course, was designed to defend against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, not specifically Russia. The former two are gone, and thus NATO no longer has a purpose except as an instrument of the American Empire. The Europeans have a lot more sense than the US. They are closer to the situation and know they have little to fear from Russia. Anyway, why should they pay for their own defense when we will do it for them?
NATO really needs to be abolished, but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. Too many lucrative contracts for the MIC and profit for the international criminal cabal to be had while they encircle Russia, foment fake revolutions and cause other misery around the rest of the world.