pagerman @ work said:
AlaskanAg99 said:
This is why NATO members constantly cry to the US to protect them. They want all the upside, none of the down. The eastern countries have a clear idea of the stakes and Germany is blowing any political clout they had.
Down side?
Have you heard the bellyaching here because the price of gasoline went up a little? And that is nothing compared to asking a country to cut off 55% of their gas supply overnight. The average high temperature in April is 57 degrees F (avg. low is 40); in May it's still only 67 degrees (avg. low of 49). In fact the average low in June and July is 54 & 58 respectively.
Additionally, Germany gets 45% of its coal & 33% of its oil from Russia. Simply turning off imports from Russia would do tremendous damage to the German economy, likely plunging it into an immediate, deep recession.
This is not asking Germany to put up with a little "pain at the pump" for the greater good. This is essentially asking (demanding?) them to commit economic suicide. Given that Germany is part of the EU, the fallout from a really ugly recession could well be problematic for other EU economies as well. How would the US respond to Canada demanding that we cut off 33% of our oil supply (and 55% of our natural gas supply) overnight for "the greater good"?
Ahhh...the old Too Big To Fail argument. Look, Germany did this to themselves through greed and ignorance. Regardless of the fact that for several US Presidencies now we have been begging and demanding that not only Germany but the rest of NATO members MUST pay a minimum of 2% GDP to defense, esp mutual defense.
However, many did not with Germany being the glaring example of doing everything they possibly could on a high risk bet that:
A) They could free ride off NATO and not spend nearly a dime (relatively) while they spent everything on their economy and bennies.
B) They put themselves in a high risk situation by doing energy business with the devil. They rolled the dice Putin wouldn't go on a military adventure while they were completely dependent on him for energy.
C) Green Energy gambit: that has been a complete failure.
D) They shut down their nuclear plants as part of a compounding problem of B&C.
The main problem is Germany did this when other EU powers (France mostly) did not. They made extraordinary gambles based on hopes and dreams and completely ignored reality and potential hazards.
Putin knew this, and encouraged it based on his belief he HAD to go to war to save the Russian Empire. This was bolstered by the fact for the last decade he'd been going on minor excursions and no one lifted a finger. Big surprise to him when NATO found their spine and the Ukes discovered they were made of pure Ukranium and decided to fight the **** back. Bolstered by the west flooding their country with advanced weapons that took down Putin's 1980 army and equipment.
And that that end Germany has attempted to stall and block the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. The Germans are more than happy to sacrifice Ukrainians due to their poor planning and **** ideals.
**** Germany. If I was Zelenski and fighting for the survival of my people and we're about to lose? I'm going to absolutely **** over those who didn't help while for decades they cried about Russian's and not only didn't plan for it, but put themselves in a position of extraordinary weakness.
