Germany's Merkel says America can't be counted on to defend Europe:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe can no longer count on the U.S. for military protection and must “take its destiny into its own hands.”
Merkel’s comments on Thursday reprise a theme she first sounded last year in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and his hectoring of European NATO allies for allegedly spending too little on defense. It’s her latest retort to Trump, who this week withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear accord with Iran that European powers say they will uphold.
America actually has a military. America has two Army combat brigades in Europe, commands one of four new multi-national battalions in eastern NATO, has been deploying an additional armored brigade in rotations to Europe, is prepositioning more Army and Marine Corps equipment in Europe, our planes stand guard in their skies over grounded German aircraft, and our warships on occasion patrol the Baltic Sea and Black Sea.
Good Lord, we are building missile defenses in Europe designed to protect Europeans from Iranian nuclear missiles. But we're to be condemned by the Germans for refusing to pretend that the nuclear deal actually prevents Iran from going nuclear?
Germany in contrast to America mostly has a uniformed civil service with little combat power. Only recently has it occurred to them that "national security" should be the concept to base their military on.
And I worry that the Germans will reduce the capacity of NATO allies who subordinate their units to the German army. The modern German army is a joke except for some special forces. The Germans have no business absorbing allied contingents.
So no, chancellor, Europe can count on America to fight. Will Germany fight? That's not very clear. Although their clinging to their past and their unwillingness to spend money says no they won't.
Can Germany fight? The evidence on that is more clear--they can't. And according to the Germans, they apparently can't be trusted with the ability to fight.
Merkel has a lot of nerve questioning American resolve that has lasted for more than 70 years, and which has outlasted German willingness to defend Europe.
I used to occasionally stand up for Merkel, arguing she is not nearly so bad as many conservatives portray her. With this latest comment, I'm out.
UPDATE: I see Bravely Brave Frau Merkel has vowed not to "surrender" to America which poses no threat at all to--and is an actual ally of--Germany:
Merkel defends nuclear deal, Iran says won't 'surrender' to U.S.
Pity that she orders Germany, accompanied by her favorite minstrels, to bravely run away from actual threats.
Although the irony of a German leader claiming a farcical deal provides "peace for our time" is not lost on me.
UPDATE: The German military is "ailing":
The country's embarrassingly long laundry list of inoperable fighter jets, grounded helicopters, idled tanks and dry-docked submarines has exacerbated tensions between Germany and the United States, which — like other NATO allies — worries about the threat of Russian aggression following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ailing? Ailing?
Don't even try to tell me the German military is "resting" after getting tired and shagged out after a long Cold War.
The German military is no more. It is an ex-military bereft of life.
And God help me, if I hear this excuse one more time I'm going to pound my head into a door frame until I am woozy:
But for many Germans, a country with a deeply pacifist streak following two wars in the last century, the lack of military preparedness is of little concern. In fact, it's a source of pride among the peaceniks who grew up with a post-World War II idealism of a world without wars — the Nie wieder Krieg generation.
Let me again pull out the clue bat for our pacifistic German friends:
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.
There are Germans who take pride in this sad state of affairs?
