12-01-2023, 11:57 AM
https://www.yahoo.com/news/media-europea...42440.html
Not really "new" news, but the "EU" countries extremely poor performance on their bold promise of delivering 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine before March reflects a breathtaking level of incompetence/dishonesty at many levels. The people who made and repeated that pledge were either so deluded they thought it could be done or so mendacious they said it knowing full well they wouldn't come close. It is one thing to fall just a bit short, but quite another to be at least 40% (probably more) short.
I am sure Ms. von der Leyen will simply blame the individual nations for not letting contracts in a timely manner to support her promises. Of course, she didn't do anything when it became clear these contracts were not being put in place. That isn't really an adequate excuse either, as the various EU military stocks were supposedly adequate to meet the need for this year in any case. Ironically enough Ms. von der Leyen's as Defense Minister presided over changes that led to Germany's inability to do so out of their own stocks all by themselves. It also resulted in a somewhat vestigial defense industry that has a "correct" but totally skeptical relationship with it's main customer, and to a military culture that generally will not even attempt to speak truth to power. (there have been one or two exceptions since the war in Ukraine began, but nothing came of them).
In many ways the US relationship with our military-industrial complex has it's problems, but we are in much better shape than in the EU. Essentially all "western European" nations haven't really taken "defense" seriously since the end of the cold war. They do take seriously selling weapons to other nations at a profit, but beyond that, domestic politics completely submerges defense considerations. Unfortunately, despite lots of "noise", it appears this isn't changing.
Not really "new" news, but the "EU" countries extremely poor performance on their bold promise of delivering 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine before March reflects a breathtaking level of incompetence/dishonesty at many levels. The people who made and repeated that pledge were either so deluded they thought it could be done or so mendacious they said it knowing full well they wouldn't come close. It is one thing to fall just a bit short, but quite another to be at least 40% (probably more) short.
I am sure Ms. von der Leyen will simply blame the individual nations for not letting contracts in a timely manner to support her promises. Of course, she didn't do anything when it became clear these contracts were not being put in place. That isn't really an adequate excuse either, as the various EU military stocks were supposedly adequate to meet the need for this year in any case. Ironically enough Ms. von der Leyen's as Defense Minister presided over changes that led to Germany's inability to do so out of their own stocks all by themselves. It also resulted in a somewhat vestigial defense industry that has a "correct" but totally skeptical relationship with it's main customer, and to a military culture that generally will not even attempt to speak truth to power. (there have been one or two exceptions since the war in Ukraine began, but nothing came of them).
In many ways the US relationship with our military-industrial complex has it's problems, but we are in much better shape than in the EU. Essentially all "western European" nations haven't really taken "defense" seriously since the end of the cold war. They do take seriously selling weapons to other nations at a profit, but beyond that, domestic politics completely submerges defense considerations. Unfortunately, despite lots of "noise", it appears this isn't changing.