Egregoros

@ThatCrazyDude @dictatordave He’s maneuvering to force them to pay us for protecting them. Shit, the welfare we give to Europe makes the aid to Israel as meaningful as a fart in the wind, yet nobody seems to give a rats ass about the poor return we get on investment from the old countries.

@truthbait @dictatordave I'll just assume you're being sarcastic here

@ThatCrazyDude @dictatordave Which part?

@truthbait @dictatordave welfare to Europe part, obviously. Now, if you're referring to this so called trade unbalanced, you're not wrong when it comes to trade in physical goods, because the US hardly manufactures stuff the Europeans would want to buy, but then when you look at services, it very much balances out. Other than that though... Pure nonsense

@ThatCrazyDude @dictatordave No, I mean defense welfare. We are their muscle and in return they shit on us. That’s an indisputable fact.

NATO either needs to pay for our services or be left to fend for themselves. They’ll be sucking Chinas little rice balls inside of NY minute if we depart.

@truthbait @dictatordave dude, I'm an European and I literally fought for the US when I was serving in the Polish armed forces because the goddamn alliance and sruff. The US never did that for me and I kinda doubt it would. And as far as the US military gear go, it's not like Raytheon or Northrop Grumman gives the stuff away. If a European country wants the stuff, it gotta pay. The US DOD arms sale approval is hardly a handout.

Thought you were Italian... half-half, or you just live there?

@cjd @truthbait @dictatordave Italian father, Polish mother - dual citizenship from the get go. Born and raised in Poland when draft was still a thing.

I gotta friend that is Italian/French...

Re NATO, it's probably nothing more than an overpriced arms racket at this point. Lets be serious, treaty or no treaty, if the US wants to get involved in a war, they will, if they don't, they won't. Same as any other country.

If the US leaves NATO, NATO can dump all American made arms and only approve European made arms, so it's not really that much of a win for the US...