members should pay up…by
Kristie McDonald 7/31/16
Amid the controversy over Donald
Trump’s demand that NATO nations meet their financial obligations before they
expect the United States to defend them, NATO’s top commander says he agrees
it’s important for alliance members to pay their bills.
From Washington
Examiner: In an interview at the Aspen Security Forum,
Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said it’s something he regularly discusses with
other countries.
“What I tell
them typically is that look, we have a people and a Congress with a tough
budget as well,” Scaparrotti said Thursday night. “So as a leader of another
country you have to put your share into this, you have to do that because when
I go back to testify to Congress I get asked these questions.”
Pressuring
NATO members to meet their commitments is a position Trump has not backed off
of, despite criticism from Democrats and some national security experts, who
argue it sends the wrong message and could embolden Russian President Vladimir
Putin, who has already seized territory in Ukraine, which is not a NATO member.
Speaking in
Miami Wednesday, Trump said, “I think NATO’s great. But it’s got to be
modernized, and countries that we’re protecting have to pay what they’re
supposed to be paying.”
Scaparrotti,
NATO’s supreme commander, says as of now only five of the 28 NATO nations are
meeting their pledge to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic
product on defense.
They also are
supposed to spend 20 percent of that on major weapons systems and equipment.
Only three
countries have met that goal: the U.S., the United Kingdom and Poland. Two
more, Greece and Estonia, spend 2 percent on defense, but not 20 percent on
major systems. Read Full Story at Washington Examiner:
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