NATO SG Wants Europeans to Fight American Wars

By Staff, Agencies 

NATO Secretary General Mark Ruttes stressed that the European NATO nations should take greater responsibility for security in the Middle East.

Defending the US- “Israeli” aggression on Iran, he argued that European members should spend less on social programs and more on the military.

Rutte made the remarks at a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event in Iowa on Tuesday after being asked to “make the case” for NATO to Americans by explaining “what’s in it” for them.

He described the Middle East as “Europe’s backyard” and “not the United States’ backyard,” claiming that Washington’s war against Tehran was “necessary” but that the US had to launch it because “somehow the Europeans did not have enough capabilities to do it themselves.”

“In the future, what you get from a stronger NATO is that Europeans can take care of their own backyard,” Rutte said.

Rutte also mentioned that the burden within NATO was unfair because European members spend heavily “on pensions and welfare,” while Washington has to devote more resources to weapons but “would also like to spend more on all these other lofty, beautiful items, but they can’t because they have to spend so much on defense.”

He described raising NATO’s military spending target from 2% to 5% of GDP as “the fairness element” and part of an “equalizing” process. The remarks come as Washington pushes for a reorganization dubbed NATO 3.0, under which European members would sharply increase military spending and production while assuming “primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe.”

Rutte also offered to help “protect the United States from threats of Russia” and China and prevent the Arctic “from becoming militarized by the Russians and the Chinese.”