|
"International court’s attack on Israel a sign of the free world’s moral collapse"
"Pete Hegseth Is Right for the DOD"
"Why Our Constitution Secures Liberty, Not Democracy"
Woodworking and Construction Hacks
"CNN: Reporters Were Crying and Hugging in the Hallways After Learning of Matt Gaetz's AG Nomination"
"NEW: Democrat Officials Move to Steal the Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Admit to Breaking the Law"
"Pete Hegseth Is a Disruptive Choice for Secretary of Defense. That’s a Good Thing"
Katie Britt will vote with the McConnell machine
Battle for Senate leader heats up — Hit pieces coming from Thune and Cornyn.
After Trump’s Victory, There Can Be No Unity Without A Reckoning
Vivek Ramaswamy, Dark-horse Secretary of State Candidate
Megyn Kelly has a message for Democrats. Wait for the ending.
Trump to choose Tom Homan as his “Border Czar”
"Trump Shows Demography Isn’t Destiny"
"Democrats Get a Wake-Up Call about How Unpopular Their Agenda Really Is"
Live Election Map with ticker shows every winner.
Megyn Kelly Joins Trump at His Final PA Rally of 2024 and Explains Why She's Supporting Him
South Carolina Lawmaker at Trump Rally Highlights Story of 3-Year-Old Maddie Hines, Killed by Illegal Alien
GOP Demands Biden, Harris Launch Probe into Twice-Deported Illegal Alien Accused of Killing Grayson Davis
Previously-Deported Illegal Charged With Killing Arkansas Children’s Hospital Nurse in Horror DUI Crash
New Data on Migrant Crime Rates Raises Eyebrows, Alarms
Thousands of 'potentially fraudulent voter registration applications' Uncovered, Stopped in Pennsylvania
Michigan Will Count Ballot of Chinese National Charged with Voting Illegally
"It Did Occur" - Kentucky County Clerk Confirms Voting Booth 'Glitch'' Shifted Trump Votes To Kamala
Legendary Astronaut Buzz Aldrin 'wholeheartedly' Endorses Donald Trump
Liberal Icon Naomi Wolf Endorses Trump: 'He's Being More Inclusive'
(Washed Up Has Been) Singer Joni Mitchell Screams 'F*** Trump' at Hollywood Bowl
"Analysis: The Final State of the Presidential Race"
He’ll, You Pieces of Garbage
The Future of Warfare -- No more martyrdom!
"Kamala’s Inane Talking Points"
"The Harris Campaign Is Testament to the Toxicity of Woke Politics"
Easy Drywall Patch
Israel Preparing NEW Iran Strike? Iran Vows “Unimaginable” Response | Watchman Newscast
In Logansport, Indiana, Kids are Being Pushed Out of Schools After Migrants Swelled County’s Population by 30%: "Everybody else is falling behind"
Exclusive — Bernie Moreno: We Spend $110,000 Per Illegal Migrant Per Year, More than Twice What ‘the Average American Makes’
Florida County: 41 of 45 People Arrested for Looting after Hurricanes Helene and Milton are Noncitizens
Presidential race: Is a Split Ticket the only Answer?
hurricanes and heat waves are Worse
'Backbone of Iran's missile industry' destroyed by IAF strikes on Islamic Republic
Joe Rogan Experience #2219 - Donald Trump
IDF raids Hezbollah Radwan Forces underground bases, discovers massive cache of weapons
Gallant: ‘After we strike in Iran,’ the world will understand all of our training
The Atlantic Hit Piece On Trump Is A Psy-Op To Justify Post-Election Violence If Harris Loses
Six Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ terrorists
Judge Aileen Cannon, who tossed Trump's classified docs case, on list of proposed candidates for attorney general
Iran's Assassination Program in Europe: Europe Goes Back to Sleep
Susan Olsen says Brady Bunch revival was cancelled because she’s MAGA.
Foreign Invaders crisis cost $150B in 2023, forcing some areas to cut police and fire services: report
Israel kills head of Hezbollah Intelligence.
|
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
International News
See other International News Articles Title: Germany’s military is dysfunctional and they have no plans to fix it
Source:
HotAir
URL Source: https://hotair.com/archives/2018/05 ... ry-dysfunctional-no-plans-fix/
Published: May 21, 2018
Author: Jazz Shaw
Post Date: 2018-05-22 03:08:28 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 1364
Comments: 6
| This weekend I was writing about the dismay being expressed by various European leaders these days as they come to realize that the status quo is changing and they can’t simply take advantage of the United States anymore. One area where that’s abundantly clear is found in the subject of military spending. Western Europe, in particular, has had a pretty smooth ride since the Second World War, being able to save a lot of money by not funding large military forces and relying on America to keep them secure. 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) | There are so few German army helicopters available for the troops that pilots have been forced to train in bright yellow civilian choppers leased from the German Automobile Club. 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
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
|
