He has now reached the conclusion that the German military is virtually “not deployable for collective defense.” Independent commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels also indicated in an interview that Germany was unprepared for the possibility of a larger conflict even though smaller operations abroad may still be possible.A couple years ago when reporting on weaknesses in Germany's military, I was astounded to discover that Germany had a military.
That Washington Post article hauls this out:
In a history-burdened nation that has been among the most war-weary since reunification in 1990, the military is still viewed with more skepticism than elsewhere.
So how many guilt-ridden former concentration camp guards are still standing in the way of a real German military?
This is a bullshit excuse when you remember that during the Cold War the West Germans had the best armored force in NATO, bar none. And East Germany had the best quality army in the Soviet Union's Warsaw Pact. What? no guilt then?
And Trump is too new to be a believable excuse. So just stop that right now.
It is symbolic that the Post article on military weakness prominently highlights a transgender German officer who should be more upset at the state of Germany's army than of Trump's enlistment policies. That's the editor's decision and not the article author, mind you. But maybe the German military has misplaced priorities is all I'm saying.
Germany's excuse is growing tiresome as I wrote in my post that I cited above:
I keep reading that the Germans hate their militaristic past so much that they don't want to fight.
Let's try applying the clue bat to Germany's collective skull on this issue.
Conquering and setting up death camps under the shield of a powerful military? That's bad. By all means, don't do that.
Having a military capable of fighting death cult enemies or stopping the Russians from moving west? Well, that's a good thing. Try doing that.
Europe's wealthiest country is a cheapskate. This is embarrassing. Or should be.
Russia, recall, excuses their belligerence and aggression as a justified response to their dark fantasies that the Germans will roll east a third time if Russia doesn't gain a buffer zone.
UPDATE: The U.S. Army secretary called on Germany to chip in for dinner:
"It's important for all of our NATO allies to live up to their commitments," Esper said during a teleconference on Monday. "If not, it weakens the alliance, clearly, and Germany is such a critical member of NATO."
Germany isn't even close to spending 2% of their GDP on defense. In 2017 it is expected to spend 1.13%.
