01-17-2017, 07:58 AM
(01-17-2017, 07:47 AM)Mikebert Wrote:(01-16-2017, 03:09 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote: It would be nice if those developed nations weren't so reliant upon us for their national security and so forth.
Are they? We like to insist they are getting a benefit for US military spending. Do they agree? I think not. Trump is right, NATO is obsolete and has been since 1999. So is our security guarantee to South Korea and Japan. Hell we could eliminate three quarters of our military expenditures and probably be safer than we are now. Americans are just patsies. We pay way too much for defense just like we do for health care.
Considering how much they request US military intervention, yes they are. Even France was calling for "US leadership" when Libya started falling apart. Poland has been asking for a US military presence ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. Japan would be in a tough spot without US nuclear protection because they need it to balance North Korea but large proportions of their population are allergic to having nuclear weapons themselves.
There has been a rise in piracy over the Obama years after the US stopped worldwide patrols in the wake of the sequester. Nations like South Korea, India, and China have cobbled together forces to hold the line, but it's not as effective. And it costs them money to maintain a blue water navy that they might not otherwise need.