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International News Title: Germany’s military is dysfunctional and they have no plans to fix it Nowhere is this more evident than in Germany. While we touched on this briefly yesterday, there are some recent developments in the news coming out of Europe which merit a closer look. Germany has already stated that they have no intention of hitting their required goal of spending 2% of GDP on their military for at least the next decade. In the meantime, their military has fallen into such a state of disarray that they can’t even certify enough pilots because there aren’t enough functional aircraft for them to log their required flight hours. (LA Times) A chronic shortage of spare parts and assorted technical woes has grounded 29 of the Bundeswehr’s 130 camouflage-green colored helicopters. Acute shortages of parts have also left only 39 of the Luftwaffe’s 128 Eurofighter jets combat-ready — idled along with nearly half of the armed forces’ 224 Leopard tanks and five of its six submarines. No country in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance has savored the “peace dividend” as much as Germany, which slashed military spending in half after the Cold War. And no country in NATO has drawn more criticism from President Trump for not carrying its own military weight than Germany. It’s not just the helicopters and planes. As was previously disclosed, half of their tanks and all but one of their submarines are out of commission. Sadly, Angela Merkel has little motivation to act on these deficiencies with any sense of urgency. As the linked analysis points out, a strong military really isn’t a priority for most of her citizens. In fact, many take their less militaristic stance as a point of pride. Following the horrors of the world wars, generations of Germans have grown up idealizing the concept of a “world without war.” It’s a beautiful thought, but it ignores one very significant reality. Germany, along with most of the rest of western Europe, was largely able to sit out the cold war and not get dragged into any other conflicts to a significant degree precisely because America was doing all the heavy lifting. Perhaps criticizing the United States and talking about how you may have to back off from this relationship at the precise moment when most of your army’s machinery is up on blocks with the tires having been stolen isn’t the best timing imaginable. Here’s a thought. Angela Merkel managed to hold her tongue when Donald Trump was calling for a military parade in Washington, but she had previously criticized Russia for planning a similar display. Perhaps that’s because Germany couldn’t put together enough military hardware these days to stage a parade more than a block long. Poster Comment: And guess who is now going to lead NATO's rapid-response force? Germany! One can only hope they have a few jeeps still running so their generals can get around to issue orders to countries that have real military capabilities. StarsAndStripes: As Germany prepares for NATO crisis-response role, its military readiness is ‘abysmal’ Among the failures: none of Germany’s submarines is operational, only four of its 128 Eurofighter jets are combat-ready and the army is short dozens of tanks and armored vehicles needed for NATO missions. In addition, troops are short on the basics: body armor, night vision gear and cold-weather clothing. . . . Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Tooconservative (#0)
There is a simple answer to this, completely abdicate and give 2% of their GDP to the US to defend them, then the US will have more to spend on the military more justification for bases in Europe and a real ability to confront Putin on the ground. The day of the mercenary has returned
#2. To: paraclete (#1)
It would be 70 billion dollars, each year. Add other EU countries and it will be 340 billion.
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