Re "Putin could invade and take over Europe ": Putin is a prize dick all right. But isn't it more likely that a serious conflict would kick off in the Pacific with that moron in charge of North Korea, and with China and Japan squaring up to each other.
Completely agree with you about the money thing. As the Americans already have all that hardware and expertise the least the Europeans could do is up the amount of cash they give to NATO. Although, as the chart below shows, the UK, France, Germany and Italy together spend more than twice what Russia spends on defence. And Russia's military equipment is hopelessly outdated and badly maintained - though Hitler made that same (mis)calculation! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures Rank Country Spending ($ Bn.) % ofGDP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) World share (%) World total 1747.0 2.4 100 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia Russia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_the_Russian_Federation 87.8 4.1 5.0 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Armed_Forces 61.2 2.2 3.5 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom UK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Armed_Forces 57.9 2.3 3.3 7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany Germany http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundeswehr 48.8 1.4 2.8 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy Italy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Armed_Forces 32.7 1.6 1.9 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote : On 11/7/2014 10:38 AM, TurquoiseBee turquoiseb@... mailto:turquoiseb@... [FairfieldLife] wrote: It's like Nabby, waiting for Maitreya. It's a belief system that actually *prevents* humans from taking steps to save themselves. > Non sequitur. The truth is, you are screwed if you are living in Europe. Putin could invade and take over Europe in a few weeks if he wanted to and there's nothing anyone could do about it, short of starting WW III. Because the Europeans wouldn't pay for their own defense they are now dependent on the U.S. to protect them. But, for how long - it's been almost 70 years since we came over there to liberate Europe - how long can the U.S. be expected to be their protector? Maybe it's time for Europe to pay it's own way so we can bring our troops home. "In one form or another, these states are preparing for war. Eventually, one or many – but most likely the Poles – are going to push back against Russian aggression in Ukraine..." 'While Americans Mull Over the Election, Other Countries Prepare for War' http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/11/07/While-Americans-Mull-Over-Election-Others-Prepare-War http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2014/11/07/While-Americans-Mull-Over-Election-Others-Prepare-War
