With NATO partners dropping like flies, and the Canadian government rebuking a recent effort by the US to remain in the Afghan War, the Pentagon is looking toward ensuring that the quantity of partner nations is kept up, even if it means pumping millions of dollars into the militaries of relatively minor nations to ensure they remain.
Following up on reports from the weekend, the Pentagon is confirming some $50 million in aid to be distributed more or less equally among Georgia, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.
The $50 million is just the tip of the iceberg, and the overall program could cost upward of $350 million. It will include funding for both equipment for the nations, whose overall commitment amounts to just over 1.2% of the overall military force in Afghanistan.
Though the Pentagon insisted that the funding did not amount to “bribery,” they conceded that it was in part an incentive for the nations to keep literally scores of troops in the nation.
It keeps a large number of “partners” involved in the war, but does little for NATO efforts to increase the number of troops in the nation, as Canada and the Netherlands, both poised to leave, each contribute far more troops than all of these nations combined.
So , the Fed Bankers need more soldiers? Just pay more taxes, America.
We dont want to look like a bully . How else can we be part of the international community . We need names of countries . Arn't these new counties seperated with color revolutions from the former communist side . Instead of bribery maybe these countries have already been bought and paid for .
Is that along the lines of a kind of cash rebate then?
i think people are missing the importance of the integration of the militaries around the world in to the pentagon structure,rather than the small numbers they are sending
Exactly like iraq, where the pretense of a coalition was maintained with $200 million authorized by Congress in 2005 for a Coalition Solidarity Fund and additional millions were doled out under another umbrella called the Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative. All of the COWS (Coalition Of the Willing) eventually pulled out anyway, as will the countries named in this article.
It's not bribery, 'cause the USG tell me so. Perhaps I should consider declaring myself a small country and offer my services to the USG, for the proper incentive, of course. WE all know that governments don't accept and the USG DOESN'T do bribery, well except in the case pf OBL, back in the 80's.