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NATO is based on the principles of collective defence. Understandably all members must keep their own armed forces in good shape and prepared for armed conflict when needed. Each member declared commitments to spend 2% of GDP on armed forces at the Wales 2014 summit.
Most members have made little effort to meet the target, and former President Trump pointed out this in 2017. He criticized NATO leaders for not fairly sharing the economic burdens of the alliance. He stated, and rightly so, that «this is not fair to American Taxpayers».
Even left-wing news outlets have later admitted that President Trump's complaints were well justified as most members fail to meet their commitments to NATO. Today, 21 of 28 countries are still not spending the expected 2% on their armed forces. So far, they have done so with impunity. There is no penalty for not complying.
Source: www.nato.com
President Biden, the self-declared «adult in the room» has not reiterated President Trump's demands, and mainstream media is essentially not interested in the topic. Even less is the West interested in how much defence power is generated by the spending. However, the Ukraine debacle has created fear that Western armed forces may be inferior to Russian forces. The rise of wokeness in the military makes this question highly valid.
NATO has its Gender Advisor responsible for following up on NATO's initiative «Women, Peace and Security» where the primary driver is the passionate belief that equity, and inclusion will bring superb fighting skills to the armed forces. Moreover, NATO has also added "climate crisis" to its top priorities, all to appease the younger generation of narcissistic "future leaders".
NATO's web pages claim that NATO's operational effectiveness can only be secured by allowing women to participate in combat - at all levels. This narrative was explicitly stated by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg when he gave a speech at the Women Political Leaders Summit in 2021. Excerpts from his speech show that he shares many ideas with Chief of Joint Staff US General Milleys and other super-wokes, who all go against common sense. For instance, Mr Stoltenberg said:
«The more diverse and gender-equal we are, the more effective NATO are at defending our values and our people – We (NATO) are training our own soldiers – and commanders – to be more alert and receptive to everybody's needs.»
Woke and weak NATO leader - Jens Stoltenberg
Mr Stoltenberg took part in a conversation on NATO's current and future agenda at the "NATO Youth Summit" on April 28, 2022. There he indulged the narcissistic traits of young privileged elites who call for a lot more attention than their level of experience and wisdom deserve. He stressed the need to involve youth in decisions that will shape tomorrow's world and that NATO will address climate change, disinformation and gender issues. So nice to know that NATO will wage wars - killing people with eco-friendly weapons.
Western armed forces are clearly obsessed with identity politics. Wokery is already deeply embedded in military thinking. The act of raising legitimate questions about the consequences is like entering a minefield. I have debated the problem with many officers, but they are reluctant to speak out, knowing that dissenting to the woke orthodoxy is a «career buster». Top-ranked servicemen, who are well aware of the challenges that come from mixing healthy young men and women in small groups, remain silent. They practice "Don't ask - Don't tell".
Example of Wokeness - Head of Norwegian Armed Forces - Eirik Kristoffersen
Mr. Kristoffersen chose to break all precedents by participating in a pride parade. There is currently war in Europe but his focus seems still to be celebrating diversity equity and inclusion. July 12, 2022, he declares an imaginary problem by making the following written statement (quote) on www.forsvaretsforum.no:
"We in the armed forces can win the fight against bullying and harassment in our ranks. But, first, we must all admit that we have a crisis on our hands." As with other military top brass, he serves no evidence of his claims.
General Milley is another excellent example of destroying the armed forces from within. His fixation on «white rage» and identity politics has launched a campaign intended to cleanse the armed forces for persons not being woke enough. Loyd Austin, the Pentagon chief, has addressed an imaginary crisis of extremism in the rank. He has pledged to root out "racism and discrimination". In response to the looming purge of non-wokes and anti-vaxxers, the military top brass joins LGTB+ pride parades to support policies they know will do no good for the fighting potential. Disillusioned and demoralized servicemen seem to be the consequence every government denies. The US army has met only 52% of the 2022 recruitment goals for the fiscal year ending September 30, even after having lowered physical test standards over many years. It is painful listening to military spokesmen claiming a "tight job market" is to blame.
Biden's comments on International Women's Day illustrate the goal of making the military more accommodating to females. He said:
"We're making good progress designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms for women, creating maternity flight suits, updating requirements for their hairstyles."
Tucker Carlson responded sarcastically that Biden now wants «pregnant women to fight our wars».
Western armed forces are arguably the last institution to fall victim to left-wing liberal narratives. The military is slowly metamorphosing into a political tool for creating a utopia of social justice. Our ruling elites know the negative consequences but care no more about military needs than they bother to protect open borders against illegal migrants. Although there are no reliable "cause and effect" studies available regarding the woke impact on military readiness, there can be no little doubt that the consequences are dramatic. Meritocratic rules for career advancement are sacrificed on the altar of wokeness.
Our military needs masculine qualities that make them formidable and intimidating when required and the act of purging masculinity from the armed forces represents self-harm never seen in history. As late radio giant Rush Limbaugh said:
"The military's job is to kill people and break things." Its purpose is not to create employment or "opportunities" for women (or any other demographic); it's not a vocational school, jobs program, social-experimentation laboratory, or a vehicle through which to advance "equity."
I am not against women in the armed forces, but we need to differentiate between serving in combat and serving in combat units. Unfortunately, our military leaders do not have the intestinal fortitude to defeat the very vocal political minority who advocate agendas unfavorably to the military.
Military leaders fixated on gender pronouns and social justice will never harvest respect, neither from friend nor foe. All armed forces must be forged by what is military correct, not politically correct.
Military leaders waging war on "whiteness" will certainly not motivate white young men to visit recruitment officers.