© Omar Havana/Getty ImagesFile photo: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Security comes above all else, the US-led bloc's head Mark Rutte has said
European members of NATO need to cut welfare and direct more of their GDP to the military-industrial complex in the name of
"safety," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said.
Rutte spoke at an event in Brussels organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a US-based think-tank."I know spending more on defense means spending less on other priorities. But it is only a little less," Rutte said on Thursday.
Comment: There are of course several ways to comment on this article, though one could also ask if given all we know already it is even necessary?
Anyway, here is one angle:
1) There was:
"Tell your banks and pension funds it is simply unacceptable that they refuse to invest in the defense industry,"
In case the audience doesn't tell, Rutte knows there is little to worry about. After all, Mark Rutte was PM of the Netherlands from 2010-2024, which means the situation described in the following article would be well known to him: SOTT Focus:
Dutch Health Minister Defends Government's Covid Measures: "We Were Bound by NATO Obligations"In those COVID days, "NATO Obligations" entailed that people were asked to wear breath-obstructing masks, accept endless testing and nose-probing, observe social distancing, self-isolate, shut down businesses, so they could protect the elderly and cut down on general healthcare to take care of the "emergency", that was helped along by closing down avenues for treatment that did not involve the need for a new vaccine.
Later the populations were to take experimental mRNA jabs repeatedly in order to be allowed to open up shops, drop masks, and get closer to each other. While some people became aware of the weirdness of it all, most are still voting largely the same people in power, and are likely, perhaps even without anaesthesia, to pay NATO both an arm and a leg to provide the advertised security.
2) To the pattern that many are still voting largely the same people in power one recent exception was that the people of Romania, bordering both Ukraine and the Black Sea, did not give most votes to a supporter of NATO. There was little else to try, than to dig up assertions, and make a legal case for failing the whole election, see
EU likely pressured member state to cancel election - RT editor-in-chief. Incidentally Romania is the country where the
largest NATO base in Europe is under construction. During WWII Romania was a frontrunner alongside the German forces, but this also means that some in Romania probably have historical memories left that even textbook editing can not erase. Fortunately for NATO and that EU, the case is different in most European countries where less will do the trick, but trying to use the courts seems to be a stable.
3) Years ago, there was a discussion:
Rick Rozoff on NATO: 'Defense pact', or Evil Alliance? (May 2014) The question is still relevant?
4 ) From the same source:
12 Dec, 2024 13:20
NATO states considering spending hike signal to Trump - FT
A 50% increase in target allocation for military budgets by 2030 may be approved next June, sources have told the newspaper
NATO members are holding talks about implementing a sharp spike in defense spending as part of a review of the bloc's targets, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday. The proposed increase would present a positive response to US President-elect Donald Trump's previous criticisms of bloc members, according to an FT source.
Members of the US-led bloc are currently asked to spend at least 2% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on their military. The benchmark was widely ignored by bloc members but amid increasing tensions with Russia, the number of those in compliance has risen significantly.
According to estimates released by NATO in June, only eight of its 32 members, including Canada, Italy, and Spain, are now lagging in fulfilling their obligations. The US will have spent 3.38% of its GDP this year on defense, behind only Poland and Estonia, the review said, while the median level is 2.11%.
During their annual meeting in The Hague next June, NATO leaders could increase the short-term target to 2.5%, with a 3% benchmark set for 2030, the FT reported, citing four persons familiar with the deliberations. Confidential talks on the idea started last week but could fail, the sources said.
The discussion was fueled by the re-election of Donald Trump in November, according to the report. A commitment to 3% minimum spend on military projects would also be a "good signal to the US and Trump," a German official told the British newspaper.
During his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump accused European NATO members of being freeloaders, for their failure to spend enough on defense. He has since claimed credit for pushing allies into increasing the military-allocated portions of their national budgets.
Remarks made by Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto last week seem to reflect the deliberations among NATO nations. Speaking to the news agency ANSA, he said his country "will be forced to reach 2%, and maybe even 3%" and that Trump will "surely accelerate" the timing of the hike.
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Comment: Read SOTT.net's As Russia Liberates Syria From ISIS, USA Saves ISIS From Russia, and Western Media Ignores It All
Also mentioned in Corbett's talk was also the "Greater Israel": the plan is on track. Here on SOTT.net, this article is written by Israel Shahak in 2014: Note also, Corbett's mention of Al-Qaeda's Specter in Syria (that was removed from the CFR's website and is retained - see bold link above, through the Wayback Machine):