[Spectator] But it also hurts because there is so much truth in Trump’s criticism. Each of the 29 Nato members agrees to spend 2 per cent of its economic output on defence, but only four do: Greece, Estonia, the UK and the US. Germany, the richest country in Europe, spends just 1.2 per cent of its GDP on defence. Angela Merkel’s offer to raise this to 1.5 per cent is still seen by Trump (and her own defence officials) as insultingly low. Together, European governments are saving about £140 billion by skimping on defence. They do so in the knowledge that the hole will be filled by Uncle Sam.
Laughing all the way to the bank.
It’s not just Trump who objects to this. Successive American presidents have been losing patience. Even Barack Obama would complain about ’the Europeans and the Arab states holding our coats while we did all the fighting’. Britain only agreed to observe the 2 per cent defence spending minimum because Obama had told David Cameron that, without the money, he could forget about a ’special relationship’. And keeping UK defence spending at this bare minimum has left the British army with fewer soldiers than at any time since the Napoleonic wars. Still, Britain at least has a functioning military. It’s not clear that the same can be said of other Nato allies.
Take Germany, the target of so much of Trump’s recent ire. While defence is a low priority among a largely pacifist German public, mindful of their country’s history, a report for the German parliament earlier this year revealed the extent of the decay of its army, navy and air force. At the end of last year, the Bundeswehr had 128 Eurofighters, of which 39 could fly. It had six submarines, none of which were working when the report was compiled. Of its 13 ageing frigates, only five could sail. Of its 93 Tornado jets, 26 were ready for action. German air force trainees struggled to qualify because so few aircraft were ready for use.
They're not ready because the government refuses to buy spare parts. They could; they just don't want to. And why should they, when they have a sucker to defend them free of charge?
Its staffing is also in crisis. Hans-Peter Bartels, armed forces commissioner to the German parliament, reported recently that 21,000 officer posts are vacant. ’We spent 25 years cutting the defence budget,’ he said. ’We thought everything could be solved through negotiations, agreements, co‐operation and partnerships.’
Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German envoy to Washington, said it was ’undignified’ that the most that Germany could contribute to the US-led fight against Islamic State was reconnaissance flights. ’We take photos, but we leave the dirty business of shooting to others,’ he said. ’We should not develop the reputation of being one of the world’s greatest freeloaders.’
There's that word again: freeloaders. Ungrateful freeloaders at that. When's the last time anyone heard a kind word from Europe? It's been years and years and years.
The reputation of the Germany military has not quite recovered from such fiascos as when, four years ago, soldiers in the- Panzergrenadierbataillon went on an exercise with painted broomsticks instead of guns because of a shortage of weapons. They were part of Nato’s ’Very High Readiness Joint Task Force’.
Fucking broomsticks. I bet the Germans are actually proud of this. |