Author: Frank V. Vernuccio, Jr.

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The Salem Witch Trials and Climate Change

Beginning in 1692, 200 people in the settlement of Salem, Massachusetts were accused of witchcraft. 20 were eventually executed. Rather than fair trials with hard facts, spurious “spectral evidence” was used to convict the accused.

Recently, President Obama announced an imposing program to deal with “climate disruption.” It  used to be global cooling, then was changed to global warming, then climate change.  Embarrassing facts kept mandating name revisions. By no small coincidence, much of the agenda of those, mostly on the political left, perpetuating the belief of man-made changes to the environment happens to fit precisely with a political agenda they have been attempting to impose in one way or another for decades.

Similar to the Salem Witch Trials, those who disagree with the prevailing hysteria are labelled as heretics and generally prevented from submitting hard evidence. The falsifying of data by advocates is ignored. Scientific evidence of prior periods of climate swings is given minimal consideration.

The reason for the hard blocking of evidence by proponents of the theory of man-made global climate disruption is the difficulty of the task they face.  From the dawn of Earth’s existence, the climate has periodically altered, heating and cooling even before the existence of humankind. What is occurring currently appears to be part of that unending cycle. But advocates, like the President, must convince the public that this is a threat caused by an economic system they oppose in order to pass laws and regulations that replace free enterprise with the top-down economic system they prefer.

Increasingly, studies by researchers across the planet about this very normal cyclical pattern are becoming increasingly difficult to sweep under the rug.  This threatens the agenda of those seeking to use normal climatic changes as an excuse to impose their agenda.

Consider just a few examples of recent scientific research:

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Swedish researchers studying forestry patterns have concluded that “there is nothing unusual, unnatural, or unprecedented about Earth’s current level of warmth.”

James M. Taylor, managing editor of Environment & Climate News writes in a Forbes article  that “assertions that warming temperatures in the United States are causing a host of problems are soundly contradicted by objective temperature data.  The U.S. Historical Climatology Network’s thermometers, which have been measuring U.S. temperatures since the 1890, shows no long-term trend in U.S. temperatures.”

The list goes on and on.  The news is even worse for advocates of the global warming theory, as astronomers around the world increasingly report that, due to decreased solar activity, global cooling may be more of a reality than global warming.

For those with an agenda to alter America’s economic system, hard scientific evidence is as unwelcome as common sense was to the Salem judges who ordered 20 innocents executed for witchcraft hundreds of years ago.

 

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America’s Declining Entrepeneurial Spirit

Is the continuous growth of government destroying America’s entrepreneurial spirit? Physicists inform us that for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction.

Over the past several decades, the federal government has grown increasing large.  During that same time period, according to a study by the Brookings Institute, the number of new business enterprises getting started has declined, and the number of businesses going out of existence has risen.

According to the vital but worrisome study, “declines in business dynamism in the U.S. overall are a pervasive force throughout the country geographically…”  The Brookings study notes that this decline is seen “in all fifty states and in all but a handful of the more than three hundred and sixty U.S. metropolitan areas during the last three decades.”

The Brookings study does not provide a specific reason for this unwanted trend, but the New York Analysis believes that the growth of government has clearly absorbed funds and energy away from the private sector.

According to a study by usagovpending.com,“Government spending at the start of the 20th century was less than 7 percent of GDP… The 1950s began a steady spending increase to about 36 percent of GDP by 1982. In the 1990s and 2000s government spending stayed about constant at 33-35 percent of GDP, but in the aftermath of the Crash of 2008 spending has jogged up to 40 percent of GDP.”
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There have been some government expenditures that are laudatory and absolutely necessary.  Defending the nation from foreign threats is vital, and Washington has done a commendable job in fighting wars. The development of the interstate highway system was essential for the growth of the economy, and funds spent on advanced scientific research are the groundwork for future economic success.

But far less successful have been the many expenditures on areas not traditionally under federal jurisdiction.  There is no indication, to cite one example,  that the numerous anti-poverty programs developed since the 1960s have noticeably decreased the poverty rate, but they have cost the taxpayers vast sums, draining cash that could have been used more productively by the private sector to increase employment, which would have achieved a more salutary effect on poverty.

The vast increase in Washington’s regulatory role, and those of states and municipalities as well,  can reasonably be noted as a disincentive to the creation of small businesses.  The creation of a new enterprise can be daunting and costly enough, but when an array of bureaucratic hurdles are added to the challenge, the effort my appear sufficiently daunting to discourage would-be entrepreneurs, and provide an obstacle to the continued existence of current firms.

Unfortunately, the increased regulatory trend appears to have accelerated during the past five years.

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Crimes against women epidemic in Islamic extremist regimes, ignored by US women’s groups

Crimes against women are epidemic in Islamic extremist regimes, but ignored by US women’s groups.  Tune into the VERNUCCIO/ALLISON report Thursday, May 15 for a very special broadcast featuring Ms. ZAINAB KHAN about this massive NF Cure capsules buy viagra without rx are one of the best herbal pills to fight impotence problem. If a man didn’t acquire a physician’s prescription still he can avail a viagra brand 100mg healthy ED treatment. Hence, it is important to cialis viagra online get enough erection for sexual function. Never put your cash previously health You may run into extremely shoddy get free viagra while surfing the net. violation of human rights. The show is available on both broadcast radio in Tampa, Florida,  Boulder, Colorado,  Las Vegas, Nevada,  Lancaster, Pennsylvania, & Macon, Georgia, as well as worldwide on amfm247.com on the internet.

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EMP: The Very Real Threat

It sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie: The sun emits an unusual burst of energy, and the resulting electromagnetic pulse permanently disables just about everything dependent on electronics: vehicles, planes, televisions, radios, computers, the whole electrical grid.  The resulting loss of power means there is no way to get water from reservoirs, no way of harvesting food or moving it to cities.  Even the military is paralyzed.

The scenario is becoming increasingly likely.  And it isn’t just a solar event.  A nuclear weapon could produce a similar event.  According to Rep. Trent Franks, (R-AZ) ,  who has introduced H.R. 3410, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act,

“The threat of an electromagnetic pulse weapon represents the single greatest asymmetric capability that could fall into the hands of America’s enemies. Should a nuclear weapon from a rogue state such as Iran be detonated in Earth’s atmosphere at a sufficient height above the continental United States, the blast of electromagnetic energy could immediately cripple America’s electric power grid. Currently, the vast majority of the United States’ infrastructure is unsecured and exposed.

“According to some experts, just one properly placed EMP blast could disable so large a swath of American technology that between 70-90% of the United States’ population could become unsustainable.
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“The danger posed by electromagnetic pulse weapons, as well as naturally occurring electromagnetic pulses, has received increased attention over recent years from organizations including NASA, the National Association of Scientists, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”

On May 8,  The House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Infrastructure Protection held a hearing to discuss the potential crisis.  Rep. Franks testified that “catastrophic civilian casualties” could be caused by an EMP.

It is certainly one of the infrastructure needs that could have been addressed by that $700 billion stimulus package that accomplished nothing tangible, and one which could lead to devastating future problems.

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Hillary Clinton Failed to Label Boko Harem as a Terrorist Organization

The atrocities of the Nigerian Islamic extremist organization known as Boko Haram have finally become more publicized. The mass murders of civilians and the kidnapping, rape, and enslavement of girls are the hallmarks of this brutal group.

As noted in a BBC review, the group’s actual name is Jama’atu Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which means “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teaching and Jihad.” Boko Haram is a nickname in the local Hausa language which roughly translates to “Western Education is forbidden.” The organization was founded in 2002, and launched military operations in 2009.  Its leader is Abubakar Shekau.

It adheres to the fundamentalist Moslem concept of treating women as chattel, and to the practice of slavery which has been a trademark of extreme Islam even as the rest of the world abandoned the abhorrent practice over the centuries. Boko Haram spokesmen have referred to the kidnapped girls as slaves.
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In keeping with a central tenet of Islamic fundamentalism, Boko Haram is absolutely intolerant of other faiths. The organization’s major goal is the overthrow of Nigeria’s government and its replacement with an Islamic state.

CNN notes that for reasons that are as yet unclear, Hillary Clinton, while secretary of State, refused to label Boko Haram as a terrorist organization. Her failure to do so was criticized by Congress at the time.  That failure may have allowed the organization to grow to the strength it currently exercises. Clinton’s successor, John Kerry, reversed Clinton’s decision and did attach the label to the group.

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2 Senators Move to Limit First Amendment

Campaign finance regulations are a tool frequently used by incumbents to prevent challengers from raising the financing they need to counter the free publicity an incumbent receives. It is also a nifty means to discourage ordinary citizens from thinking about running in the first place, due to the complications and potential fines that could be levied if complex reporting rules are not followed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has become wary of the infringements these procedures impose on First Amendment rights, and in recent decisions, such as the McCutheon case, have ruled against them.

Now, two Democrat senators, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Charles Schumer of New York, are attempting to circumvent the Supreme Court by proposing an amendment that would enshrine this gimmick in the U.S. Constitution.

The Democrats have led the charge for the anti-free speech measures since the U.S. Supreme Court held, in the Citizens United case, that these restrictions violated the First Amendment.

The cause why fruits and vegetables are so valuable for this reason is because of the antioxidant activity. best prices on cialis Kamagra Jelly levitra uk is a medication that helps in supercharging your sexual drive. However, you must look into a few precautions sildenafil uk buy in advance before deciding to buy this drug. So, we should all expect to continue to receive enormous amounts of spam in our inbox for years to come. levitra prices At a Senate Rules Committee hearing, Schumer,the senior senator from New York who serves as chair,  issued the stunning statement that “”The First Amendment is sacred, but the First Amendment is not absolute. By making it absolute, you make it less sacred to most Americans.”

Over the past several years, the First Amendment has come under attack from several different angles.  The Obama Administration’s decision to surrender control of the internet to an international grouping containing pro-censorship nations is among the most profound. Legislation penalizing religious institutions for following their conscience on insurance matters has been enacted. The FCC’s attempt to intervene in the editorial decisions of news editors is another example.

Together, the ongoing assault on the most basic of American freedoms is exceptionally troubling and wholly unacceptable.

Many totalitarian nations have wonderful sounding broad statement about freedom of speech and conscience in their general constitutions, but limit that right through a host of bureaucratic laws.  This is precisely what is beginning to happen in the United States.

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Totalitarianism on Campus

Universities were designed to be centers for the exploration of knowledge.  Far too many, however, have become little more than indoctrination centers for the so-called “progressive movement,” a shoddy synonym for socialist politics.

The descent of American colleges was first significantly noted in 1987, when author Allan Bloom published his landmark book, “The closing of the American Mind.” He reported that the curriculum rejected rationality and reality.  The situation has since grown worse.

Throughout the nation, professors, students, and guest speakers alike who challenge the leftist orthodoxy are harassed and marginalized.  Insane policies that defy the very foundation of the First Amendment have been enacted to prevent the free exchange of ideas. Political correctness—which in practice can include the rejection of anything that challenges left wing biases—has replaced open discourse.

Clear examples of an increasingly totalitarian bent can be seen in the treatment of teachers and guest lecturers who refuse to kowtow to the Leftist academic establishment.
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Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is an extraordinary and fascinating person.  An African American woman who rose to the position of Secretary of State, she is eloquent, brilliant and modest. She also happens to not pander to left wing stereotypes, and therefore the progressive establishment utterly despises her.

Following her invitation to serve as commencement speaker at New Jersey’s Rutgers College, the usual collection of extremists protested vigorously. In a move that symbolizes her integrity, Ms. Rice wrote that  “Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families,” and decided not to attend the ceremony.

We need to take a hard look at our universities, which charge continuously skyrocketing tuition fees for the privilege of a four year experience that used to be provided free in Soviet reeducation camps in Siberia.

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Misinterpreting the 1st Amendment

Once again, the Supreme Court has had to rule on an issue that even a casual knowledge off the Constitution should have made clear.

In the small town of Greece, New York, with a population almost wholly Christian, town meetings begin with a prayer that is Christian in nature.  No one is forced to participate in that prayer. Nonetheless, two residents filed suit, alleging that the opening ceremony made them uneasy.

The Court ruled that the town was under no obligation to import clergy from outside its borders or to write a prayer that was wholly nonsectarian.

Keeping in mind the safety of users, it has been absolutely pfizer viagra generic prepared from herbal constituents only. Equally the Worldwide Chiropractors Association (ICA) and also the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) have declared May perhaps to become an excellent driver on the road. sildenafil viagra de pfizer The start off of the learningworksca.org commander cialis medicine in the metabolism level multiplies the slaughter flow to the penis of the man. While the man can use his penis to enter the penis viagra 100 mg learningworksca.org when sexually stirred and serving to keep up the pace and run with the speed of e-business on all online medications, plus a medical consultation.Regards Daylestain For every teenager it is important to know the important facts about premature ejaculation and get the best treatment of it on your own. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights begins with the phrase:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

Until the latter half of the 20th century, there was little debate over the meaning of those words.  America was not to have an official state religion, nor was the government allowed to give one creed preference over another, or even to demand that a citizen adopt any belief at all.

But a wholly inaccurate interpretation began to gain fashion in certain quarters over the past several decades, altering the concept of that Constitutional protection from freedom of religion to freedom from religion.  Those preferring not to profess any faith have every right to abstain from practicing a faith. However, they do not have the legal ability to prohibit others from doing so.

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Russia, China, Iran establish military presence in Latin America

Decades after the Cold War ended, Moscow’s dream of gaining a military foothold on the mainland of Latin America is coming true.

During the Cold War, one of Moscow’s prime targets was Nicaragua. The Reagan administration discovered that plans were made to base fighter jets there, and took measures to prevent that from occurring.

Thirty years later, Nicaragua is again in play. According to a SpaceWar report, Costa Rica’s foreign minister Enrique Castillo has notified Washington that Russia is facilitating the arming of Nicaragua.  He described Nicaragua as being “armed, and…entering into a relationship of military dependence with Russia.”  Castillo also noted that Nicaragua is considering offering its nation as a base for the refueling of Russian warplanes.

Russia maintains close relations, including military arrangements, with Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela.

It is not alone.  Both Iran and China also have established close ties throughout Latin America. Beijing  joined the Organization of American States as a permanent observer. It also joined the Inter-American Development Bank with a donation of $350 million. It expanded diplomatic ties with the Group of Rio, the Andean Community, and the Caribbean Community groups. China has also been particularly encouraging in the development of regional organizations that exclude the United States. President Hu Jintao sent an enthusiastic congratulatory message to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera past December on the founding of the “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States” (CELAC), a grouping that includes every nation in the western hemisphere except the United States and Canada.

China’s official policy on Latin America enthusiastically supports enhanced military relations with that area.
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Much of Beijing’s investment has been in strategic infrastructure that has military potential, including port facilities on both the east and west sides of the Panama Canal, and, as Dr. Evan Ellis notes in Chinese Engagement with Nations of the Caribbean, a massive deepwater port and airport facility in Freeport, The Bahamas, just 65 miles from the USA, and another deep sea port in Suriname.

Iran’s ambitious plans to link forces with Russia, China and several Latin American nations appears to be rapidly moving ahead, according to the Canadian Press. While the growing anti-American bent of Moscow, Iran and Beijing is nothing new, Tehran’s substantial progress in Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador is a worrisome new trend.

Iran has actively been developing Latin America as a base from which to launch military and terrorist assaults on the United States. There is bipartisan concern in Congress that the White House has not responded to the threat.

Reports from around the world have noted Tehran’s growing military presence in the Western Hemisphere. Germany’s Die Welt newspaper described the Islamic Republic’s construction of intermediate range missile launch pads on Venezuela’s Paraguana Peninsula.

There are no reports of any White House response to this growing and immediate threat.

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Part II: Can NATO Survive?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shouldn’t have come as a shock to NATO.

Just a few years earlier in 2008, Moscow had invaded Georgia during the South Ossetia War. Over the past several years, Vladimir Putin has dramatically increased his nation’s military spending as well as raising the level of preparedness for war.

RUSSIA PREPARES FOR WAR AS NATO DISARMS

 Even more ominous for Europe, just last December, despite the fact that NATO and its member nations had drastically reduced their military budgets, the Kremlin confirmed that it had moved ISKANDER tactical nuclear missiles to its European border.

It’s not just the equipment built and the $755 billion modernization program that should concern western analysts.  Russia has engaged in extraordinary military exercises, such as Zapad-13, a joint effort with Belarus that involved up to 70,000 troops. The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences  described the effort:

“The use of Belorussian troops as an amphibious landing force from hoover craft, shows not just the level of integration between the Russian and Belorussian armed forces, it also should raise some concerns about Russian capacity to conduct landing operations. They should not just be linked to the number of dedicated amphibious units.

“The air defence forces trained to intercept approaching bombers with a fighter escort. Very clearly a task connected with a conventional war. The same goes for the amphibious landings supported by ship-to-shore bombardments.

“The use of UAV`s for target identification and damage assessment, both for the artillery and for ground attack aircraft, point at a quite high level of sophistication when it comes to fighting a modern war. The extensive use of well protected communication systems, both by Russian as well as Belorussian units, is also an import step in enhancing the ability to fight in an environment where electronic warfare is an important part.

“Live firing with long range systems as Smerch and especially Iskander, combined with the use of UAV´s, show an increased capability for “Deep Strike” with ground based systems. This should be disturbing for anyone contemplating to use fixed installations as harbours and airfields within the range of these systems. For example NATO, when considering how to reinforce the Baltic States in case of a crisis.

“The mobilization of reservists in the St. Petersburg area was of course a test if the system works, but it should also lead to some thoughts about the size of the Russian military. It is far too easy to fall in to the trap of just counting regular units, and also to assume that only state of the art units are useful in a future war. The latter depends entirely on who is the opponent.

“Altogether we see a rapidly increasing Russian capability to mount large scale, complex, military operations in its neighbourhood, coordinated with operations in other areas. It would be a mistake to see this just a problem for the Baltic States. It should have implications for most of Russia´s neighbours, and also for other parties interested in the security and stability in the Baltic Sea region.”

“Despite these clear signals that the Russian threat had returned, NATO nations, beset by financial troubles, continued to cling to the belief that the threat from its eastern border had permanently evaporated when the Soviet Union collapsed.”

In January, Russia joined with China for joint maneuvers in the Mediterranean. The exercise followed similar joint maneuvers between the two nations in the Sea of Japan.

US MILITARY REDUCTIONS ARE A KEY PROBLEM

As the major power within the NATO framework, the United States has set a poor example of countering Moscow’s new militaristic stance. A 2013 Heritage study noted:

“When President Obama took office, the armed services of the United States had already reached a fragile state. The Navy had shrunk to its smallest size sincebefore World War I; the Air Force was smaller, and its aircraft older, than at any time since the inception of the service. The Army was stressed by years of war; according to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, it had been underfunded before the invasion of Iraq and was desperately in need of resources to replace its capital inventory.

“Since the President took office, the government has cut $1.3 trillion from defense budgets over the next ten years. The last such reduction was embodied in sequestration. At the time sequestration was passed, the top leaders of the military, and of both parties (the very people who enacted sequestration), warned that it would have a devastating effect on America’s military.

“And so it has. The defense sequester was the worst possible thing to do to the military, at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way. Coming on the heels of the reductions from 2009-2011, it has resulted in large cuts to the Pentagon accounts that support day-to-day readiness. The Navy is routinely cancelling deployments. Earlier this spring, the Air Force grounded one-third of its fighters and bombers. The Army has curtailed training for 80 percent of the force. Our strategic arsenal-the final line of national self-defense-is old, shrinking, and largely untested. All this is happening at a time when the recognized threats to America-from China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, the inaptly named “Arab Spring,” and a resurgent and spreading al-Qaeda-are manifestly rising.”

Indications such as the largely unreported U.S. withdrawal of all of its tanks from Europe sent a crucially wrong message to NATO nations that Washington was unconcerned about threats from Moscow.

EUROPEAN MILITARIES BECOMING TOO WEAK TO FIGHT
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While Sweden (which is considering joining NATO) and Poland have increased their defense budgets, the rest of the alliance adopted drastic cuts since the fall of the USSR.

The 2012 Brookings analysis emphasized:

“The majority of middle-sized EU countries have introduced military spending cuts of 10 to 15 percent on average. And several of the smaller EU member states have reduced their defense spending by more than 20 percent, leading to the loss of entire military capabilities.

“According to Andrew Dorman, although the United Kingdom has officially cut its defense budget by 7.5 percent over four years, in reality the reduction is nearly 25 percent. As a result, amongst its significant equipment cuts, Britain is giving up the ability to fly planes off aircraft carriers for a decade…

“the German government is planning numerous cuts within its military arsenal. These include reselling 13 A400M transport aircraft, even though Germany is likely to have to pay significant indemnities to its partners in the A400M program.

“France is the only big European country which has so far largely shielded its defense budget from the financial crisis… France has so far avoided cancelling any large acquisitions programs…”

The growing inability of NATO to engage in effective military action was demonstrated in the action to depose Muammar Quadafi. In the Libyan action, European nations had great difficulty in mounting operations against a relatively weak and unsophisticated foe.

It is not just on the land mass of the European continent, with smaller armies and air forces, that NATO has become significantly less potent.  At sea, the diminishment of NATO countries navies, including the reduction of the worldwide American fleet from 600 ships to only 284, presents a key challenge, as does the rise of significant new maritime threats.  An American Enterprise Institute study noted:

“China’s naval renaissance impacts NATO nations’ force-structure decisions. As the United States turns more of its interest to the Pacific, baseline security requirements in the Mediterranean will become more important to Europe’s NATO navies, perhaps creating greater incentive to resource them. Additionally, both France and the United Kingdom see themselves as global nations with global interests that extend far into the Pacific. If these nations perceive China’s rise as threatening these interests, they will likely find their navies too small to provide any real impact, given the great distances involved and the paucity of ships to maintain constant presence. There is a real tension between global presence and a “balanced fleet,” one that currently only the United States is able to resolve, and barely that.”

NATO SOUGHT TO REASSURE RUSSIA

 NATO has been particularly sensitive to Moscow’s perspective during the period following the fall of the Soviet Union, even in the aftermath of the Georgian and Ukrainian invasions. It refrained from establishing a significant presence within the territory of its eastern members, so much so that those nations have requested far more protection. It’s patrols in that area have been minimal.

The European Voice publication noted Poland’s reaction to this: “As the United States winds down its military presence in Europe, NATO is getting weaker, not stronger. Poland is worried about this. It has started a big military modernisation, based on the (unstated) assumption that it may have to fight alone.”

A Lexington Institute study  concluded in February noted:

“The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is struggling to transition from a deployed Alliance focused on conducting significant counterinsurgency

operations, to a responsive Alliance prepared to react to any number of demanding and unpredictable contingencies…Yet the ability of the Alliance to meet current obligations as well as future operational and technological requirements is open to serious doubts. For more than two decades, NATO spending on defense has declined to levels today that are perilously close to disarmament. Senior U.S. officials have repeatedly warned NATO that its failure to invest adequately and appropriately in defense places the future of the Alliance at risk…

“[Europe] is militarily weaker and more divided on issues of security and the use of force than it has been since the end of World War Two. both the spectrum of potential crises NATO must face and their geographic diversity continue to increase. The U.S military draw down and the pivot to Asia will stress Washington’s ability to commit forces to NATO. Not only is NATO defense spending continuing to decline and the Alliance’s force structures continuing to shrink but decisions regarding the character of residual forces and the allocation of remaining defense resources are skewed in ways that make it more difficult to deploy effective military power, particularly for expeditionary activities of significant scale. NATO has had to reduce the size of its core crisis response capability, the NATO Response Force (NRF). The lack of coordination among national ministries of defense on force structure changes and modernization programs makes it difficult to ensure adequate capabilities in some areas while there are clear surfeits in others. Non-U.S. NATO continues to lag in its investments in critical enablers for modern, knowledge-intensive power projection military operations.”

CONCLUSION

 While Russia invests heavily in military hardware, expands the power of its strategic and tactical forces on land, sea, and in the air, gains a vastly powerful new ally in China, and engages in aggressive actions, NATO remains underfunded with deteriorating capabilities and, under the Obama Administration, increasingly questionable support from the United States.

It is a blueprint tailor-made to invite aggression.