US Election & Presidency

^^ looks like you still don't understand. They don't "owe" anything. It's a target for their own Defence spending. They spend it on their own soldiers & warships etc. It's not a contract - it's a target.

(26-05-2017 14:51 )SecretAgent Wrote:  ^^ looks like you still don't understand. They don't "owe" anything. It's a target for their own Defence spending. They spend it on their own soldiers & warships etc. It's not a contract - it's a target.

I told you I knew nothing about it.

You agree trump is right, that they have not met their target, other people do not disagree.

I ask specifically, is spending on their own military counted, and if so, are they are all meeting their targets. In your usual round about abusive way you have aswered both.

You say it's a target, i assume this target is not being met, is that right? These countries are not meeting the target of 2%.

What seems to be the confusing here is the word 'owe', as if countries pay moniesto NATO, rather than spending 2% (I assme anually) on their own defence that NATO can draw on.

'Meeting their targets', if this be right, then all but 5 countries (including one of the poorest with the greatest finantial difficullties) are not meeting their targets. Which probably means that their countries are lacking militarily compaired to the other 5, which means, looking at Terences figures, the US makes up the short fall if there's a war.

That is, they have a much greater military presence to draw on if NATO ever needs it.

Of course it all depends on the size of countries, Greece may have a much smaller militray might than Germany despite meeting it's targets.

Either way, prety sure they have enough to kill everybody several times over if they so wished.

(26-05-2017 16:02 )wackawoo Wrote:  

(26-05-2017 14:51 )SecretAgent Wrote:  

I told you I knew nothing about it.

You agree trump is right, that they have not met their target, other people do not disagree.

I know nothing about it either, but they said on CNN news today that Trump was wrong, because the target date was 2024 and not 2017 .

I might have got this a bit wrong myself as i'm trying to remember exactly what they did say on TV.
I think they said that the NATO countries agreed back in 2014 to eventually spend no less than 2% on their own defence, 2024 was a agreed target date at which a minimum of 2% should be spent by all the NATO countries on defence, they also said that presently 22 NATO countries since 2014 had started to increase defence spending, and were on course to spend 2% by 2024 the agreed target date ..

Like i said, i'm not entirely sure what i have said is correct, as i'm trying to remember exactly what they said on CNN news earlier today .

(25-05-2017 11:24 )babelover48 Wrote:  I hope Mrs May gives Trump a piece of her mind when they meet over leaks in press

I hope no-one is expecting Trump to be consistent on the matter of leaks. He seems, like a lot of politicians, to regard them as bad only when they don't support his position.

Besides this is a cultural thing... The NYTimes on attitudes to governmental leaking on either side of the Atlantic and how it reflects an historical variance in deference to authority : https://nytimes.com/2017/05/25/world/eur...trump.html

(This is the same deference that allows such rampant censorship to occur over here btw.)

We may feel that we have every right to regard these particular leaks as repugnant and something that should not happen, but their press would do much the same with events on their own soil.

Trump's hypocrisy on leaks is a result of his efforts to establish the anti-establishment stance that subsequently helped get him elected and then having to adopt the needs of government once in power. But then a prime trait of the egoist has always been their unwillingness to acknowledge a propensity to have their cake and eat it! (I mean look at the babes with something for nothing wishlists decrying freeloading viewers. )

^^ I read an article a few weeks back covering th subject of leaks.
It made the point that Trumps camp during the election campaign were quite open about admitting a fondness for Assange and wikileaks, going so far as to admit that they had a 'direct line' to him, 'a man who can hand deliver' stuff if they require. Remember Farage a short while ago being caught exiting the embassy and being very coy about his reasons for being there. I seem to recall some fresh leaks appearing shortly after that (I think Clinton email leaks, not sure now).

Make of that what you will, but like you say, as with most politicians, it's a matter of what works for me is good, what works against me is bad (in similar vein, Trump calling for investigations into Clintons emails, whilst railing against investigations into Russian links in his own camp).

(27-05-2017 19:18 )Dave_A Wrote:  [quote='wackawoo' pid='2041475' dateline='1495814532']


I know nothing about it either, but they said on CNN news today that Trump was wrong, because the target date was 2024 and not 2017 .

I might have got this a bit wrong myself as i'm trying to remember exactly what they did say on TV.
I think they said that the NATO countries agreed back in 2014 to eventually spend no less than 2% on their own defence, 2024 was a agreed target date at which a minimum of 2% should be spent by all the NATO countries on defence, they also said that presently 22 NATO countries since 2014 had started to increase defence spending, and were on course to spend 2% by 2024 the agreed target date ..

Like i said, i'm not entirely sure what i have said is correct, as i'm trying to remember exactly what they said on CNN news earlier today .

Ah right it's the dates that's wrong.

Nice post there friend. simple to the point, none abusive.

This Trump is quite funny though, he acts like a president of a small African dictatorship.

New French President Emmanuel Macron took on Donald when they met. He gave Trump an overlong white knuckle handshake to show that he wouldn't be giving in to him.

(29-05-2017 07:00 )Charlemagne Wrote:  New French President Emmanuel Macron took on Donald when they met. He gave Trump an overlong white knuckle handshake to show that he wouldn't be giving in to him.

Funny how the French demand the most, get the most and contribute the least.

(More?) Trouble in Paradise?

Mike Dubke: White House communications director quits

Thankfully, Sean Spicer's still there. Phew!

effeminate trump! lol.