To paraphrase the great philosopher Commander Tom “Stinger” Jordan, don’t write checks the U.S. can’t cash — or write checks the U.S. says it will cash but hasn’t quite decided on which strategy is best to pay out the funds resulting in really bad things happening. More from Estonia:
Obama says all NATO members need to do fair share of defense spending #WorldNews http://t.co/LfecMArPpA
— ukworldnews (@uk_worldnews) September 3, 2014
Oh, these checks are paid out by all NATO members? Good luck with that.
Russia plans to revamp its military doctrine in the wake of NATO's new strike force announcement http://t.co/KqKpb3bOXJ
— New York Post (@nypost) September 3, 2014
A second arms race begins?
And this is what we call the “friends with benefits” option for NATO membership:
#Finland and #Sweden seek stronger ties with #NATO, but move towards membership unlikely http://t.co/AGXE6TlzrW
— The EIU (@TheEIU) September 3, 2014
The president finishes up in Estonia today and then heads to Wales for the summit. Reaction from the locals? Meh:
Nato summit: Newport locals unimpressed as world leaders arrive in Wales http://t.co/L7LYAMNYuk
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 3, 2014
But maybe, just maybe, our NATO allies get what’s going on in the U.S. Via the BBC:
In a speech later at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think tank, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to call on Nato countries to increase military spending.
[. . .]
“US taxpayers won’t go on picking up the cheque if we choose to prioritise social welfare spending when the threats are on our doorstep.”
Words are cheap. Will the Brits and the rest of NATO deliver?
