Italy's horse of a different color

  The NATO that I used to know There is now an avowed crisis in NATO, an organization that has been unable to inspire confidence in the citizens it is supposed to protect. Pity it does such a good job to protect its supposed reputation, but that's bureaucracy for you. This article has been inspired by a Wall Street Journal piece which is singularly below the usual high standard of journalistic integrity they apply, and that can be found here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/nato-countries-defense-spending-europe-russia-ukraine-2cae6723?st=ei8f5zo4ptb4txq While the article quotes official sources the message is deceptive: on reading it one would think European members of NATO have largely mended their miserly ways and are now serious about being actually able to defend themselves, while reality projects a very different message. There are points that are particularly misleading so I will parse it. “ Some 23 of 32 NATO member countries are on track to spend at least 2% of t...

  Turin, February 13 th , 2024 My bond(age) is my word Given that this is an election year this is understandable, but people are making too much of Trump words about NATO and too little about NATO behaviour... for the past decades and multiple presidents from either side of the aisle.. This weekend's media had a welcome respite from the  Superbowl Kelce – Swift saga when Donald Trump had something to say about NATO. At a Rally in Conway, South Carolina. He said: “ Everybody's got to pay ... if we don't pay are you still going to protect us? I said “absolutely not”, they couldn't believe the answer [...] one of the presidents of a big country stood up and said “sir, if we do not pay, and we're attacked by Russia are you still going to protect us?” and I said “ you didn't pay, you are delinquent?” he said “yes, let's say that happened”, “No, I would not protect you, in fact I would encourage them to do whatever the Hell they want. You gotta pay,...