Tag Archives: Military

The Trump Effect

November 15, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s more than just getting rid of your pronouns.

German poll shows approval for more defense spending as NATO steels itself for Trump 2.0 – A majority of Germans support significant defense spending increases, an outlook that coincides with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and an anticipated pressure campaign on allied militaries to step up, a new public opinion survey found.

In September, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proposed pushing the amount of spending dedicated to the military from 2% of gross domestic product to between 3 and 3.5%.

In a new poll released Monday by the Koerber-Stiftung Institute, 50% of respondents supported Pistorius’ idea, while a further 15% said even more should be spent on German defense.

German arms exporters suddenly worried about “humanitarian law”

September 19, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Silly me. I thought that was the only kind of law there was.

Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says – Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry.

A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.

What German troops?

August 20, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Take your time, Lithuania.

You’ve got all the time in the world.

Lithuania begins construction of base for German troops near Russian border – Lithuania on Monday began construction of a military base, which will accommodate up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops once completed by the end of 2027, in the first permanent foreign deployment for the German military since World War Two.

Germany committed to deploy troops in the NATO and European Union member, which borders Russia, last year. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius compared the decision to the posting of allied forces in West Germany during the Cold War to defend Western Europe in case of a Soviet attack.

Booking “financing of transport infrastructure” as defense spending?

August 8, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hustle (Hoax), Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

To “meet” their pledge of keeping defense spending at 2 percent of GDP?

Clever of the Germans. How refreshingly dishonest. And by that I mean openly dishonest.

Berlin wants to pump defense spending numbers by including military mobility – Germany wants to keep defense spending at 2 percent of GDP, but budget constraints make that difficult.

The cash-strapped German government is looking at how it can include the financing of transport infrastructure used by the military into its defense spending to meet NATO’s spending target.

The money…

July 18, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

She is all gone, señor.

Let’s see what Ukraine’s biggest, not second biggest military donor does next year.

Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine – Germany is planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine next year, from around €8bn (£6.7bn; $8.7bn) to around €4bn, according to a draft budget approved by the government.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine’s financing was “secure for the foreseeable future” due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.

Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest military donor, after the US. In 2024, Berlin’s budget for Kyiv is set at nearly €7.5bn.

But he’ll get over it

July 9, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Real fast. It’s just how they roll here.

German defence minister deplores meagre military spending – Boris Pistorius’s criticism comes on eve of Nato summit in Washington.

German defence minister Boris Pistorius has criticised his government for approving less than a fifth of the budget increase he said was needed by Germany’s military, in stark remarks on the eve of a Nato summit in Washington.

Women more equal, again

June 13, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This time it’s when it comes to avoiding military service in Germany.

Hey. Girls will be girls. I mean, women.

German national service plan ‘discriminates against men’ – All 18-year-olds to get questionnaire but women do not have to fill it out.

PS: This also applies to “trans-women,” of course. However, one aspect of Germany’s recent gender law is very interesting. If it ever came to war – and a draft – these “trans-women” would be treated as men and drafted. This law may be ridiculous, and it is, but at least it legally establishes that there are only two genders and that they are not equal.

Germany is also thinking about offering free beer for everybody…

June 7, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

But that ain’t gonna happen either.

Germany is thinking about bringing back conscription – But the chancellor is reluctant.

“Kriegstüchtig” does not trip easily off the English tongue. Nor does it fall easily on German ears. Translated roughly as “war-ready”, it is a word deployed by Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, to describe his favoured destination for the long under-resourced Bundeswehr, or armed forces. Money is now pouring in, and Mr Pistorius is overhauling the Bundeswehr’s structures. But like many of its nato allies, Germany is struggling to find enough willing recruits. The minister is among many who want Germany to consider restoring conscription, suspended since 2011, to get the numbers up.

We’ll be ready for war by 2129

June 6, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

I mean 2029, of course.

But only if nothing unforeseen happens. Like war, or something.

German defense minister calls for war readiness by 2029 – Germany’s Boris Pistorius has said the country needs to prepare for a worst-case scenario regarding the specter of war in Europe. He also said a return to some form of military conscription would likely be necessary.