US "Allies" Reject Defense Spending
Countries from Spain to Japan are pushing back against US demands to spend more on their defense.
Perhaps gambling America's mighty military industrial complex will keep siphoning hundreds of billions from the American people so Europe and Asia don't have to pay for — or die in — their wars.
For about a decade now Donald Trump has been trying to get our so-called allies to pay for their own military instead of using America as an unpaid mercenary.
Most of NATO just agreed to boost spending lest Trump walk away from their Deep State war factory. Unfortunately the boost was paired with a promise that Ukraine will join NATO so that war can be permanent.
But some of these welfare queens are pushing back.
Allies Who Won’t Pay
Last week Spain's left-wing government told Trump to pound sand on increased defense spending, intoning that "It is the legitimate right of every government to decide spending and as a sovereign ally, we choose not to."
Meanwhile, Japan just cancelled an annual defense meeting with Secretary of Defense Hegseth over US demands to spend more, with Japan's Prime Minister indignantly saying "Japan decides its defense budget by itself."
Begging the question perhaps America, too, should decide our military budget by ourself.
The pushback is understandable: after all, Spain is very far from Ukraine.
Of course, America is even further from Ukraine -- we got a Big Beautiful Atlantic Ocean.
As for Japan, Japanese voters have gotten so comfortable letting America pay for their defense for 80 years there's actually a term for this in Japanese -- heiwa baka. Meaning peace stupid.
As in Japanese voters see war as some remote hypothetical from history books.
Sadly, war is very much not a remote hypothetical for Americans. On top of the trillion we spend per year on military — accounting for perhaps half our national debt — wars have killed over 100,000 Americans and maimed millions.
According to the VA, roughly 5.5 million Americans have a service-related disability.
Of whom roughly 400,000 are unable to work for life, forced to live on taxpayer benefits.
So rivers of blood and mountains of treasure.
All to protect other countries.
Colossus Chained
European or Japanese voters won't pay unless they're forced. Because by fighting their wars they now think war is not real: It's an American obsession.
A yankee fetish while they sip lattes and spend the peace dividend America never sees.
In historical terms this is all very strange: Usually the strong country makes the weak country fight its wars.
Instead, globe-striding colossus America is paying, bleeding, and dying for random countries who then stab us in the back with trade barriers or UN treaties.
Presumably this is down to the awesome political heft of America's war industry.
After all, military contractors don't particularly care how the billions are spent so long as it's spent.
And protecting other countries for free will have to do since we don’t have any next-door Irans or North Koreas for Lindsey Graham to bomb.
What’s Next
War is the best racket since Central Banking.
Indeed, the two are linked since Central Banking prints the trillions that play venture capitalist for war. Trillion dollar wars are “free” to voters when the Fed finances them.
In the year before the Fed America spent just 0.75% GDP on military. Today that would be about $200 billion.
Instead, we spend nearly a trillion — 5 times what we need.
In fact, we spend substantially more than supposed allies like South Korea or Taiwan who are literally at war and whose entire existence depends on our free protection.
Happily, if our allies won't pay it's a very easy fix: bring our boys home.
Maybe even put them on deportations: ICE could certainly use the backup in LA.
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Canada will never meet their commitment either. Carney, like Trudeau, is a liar. He is chasing the net zero fairy tale and businesses and capital are fleeing. Canada is broke and the house of cards is teetering.
Leave Nato return all troops for deportation duty