Let's do some math here. According to Obama's pep talk to the Nations of Virtue in Brussels today, our European allies need to pony up more money for weapons so that NATO can have a "credible deterrent" to Putin's neo-Soviet designs on eastern Europe.
In 2013 NATO spent a combined one trillion dollars plus on defence. Russia spent in the range of 90 billions. If outspending Russia by a factor of 10 has failed to provide a "credible deterrent", how much more spending does Obama think would buy credibility?
Nor would military spending seem to be the deciding factor in Russia's "take-over" of Crimea, which, let's not forget, came off without a shot being fired. Contrast that bit of Russian "aggression" to America's shock and awe approach to imposing its will. Recent history tells us that while there may well be a correlation between military spending and the enthusiasm to pursue military action, there is no correlation whatsoever between military action and getting the results you want.
In fact, all of America's big talk and the big stick they've been keen to use has resulted in a profound decline in America's influence and prestige on the world stage over the past twenty years.
America's solution? Let's spend more money on weapons!
Which does not mean that Obama has slipped his moorings and is over there spouting nonsense. America is the world's biggest arms supplier and producer by a wide margin, and weapons are America's number one export. Nothing like a little fear-mongering to scare up some sales!
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