NATO is incompetent and unnecessary

 Read: https://maratkhairullin.substack.com/p/fat-and-stupid-why-nato-is-good-for

The controversial topic of this post is that NATO is incompetent and unnecessary.  It has a budget of about $4 billion (of which the US pays 70%), and employs about 10,000 people.  NATO is a way for generals and bureaucrats to pretend to be important.  

It is unnecessary because the true defense of Europe is done by the US European Command in Stuttgart, Germany. (The commander of the US European Command, US General Christopher Cavoli, is also the commander of NATO Allied Command Operations).  NATO is basically just there to give the US Army permission to operate in Europe.

NATO also has political functions, with two parliamentary bodies, North Atlantic Council, and NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which duplicates the European Union.  Members send separate ambassadors (aka Permanent Representatives) to NATO, to the European Union, and to Belgium, all located in Brussels.  

The European Union also has its own military, separate from the US European Command and NATO, called the Common Security and Defence Policy, also located in Brussels, with its own budget of $250 billion per year.  Also note that Belgium also has its own military, also headquartered in Brussels, but with only 25,000 soldiers.

NATO is incompetent because it doesn't actually do anything.  It is a quasi-political organization, and a quasi-military body, but it is incompetent at both.

To be continued ...

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Update: Nov 4

NATO has two separate militaries, Allied Command Operations (www.shape.nato.int), headquartered in Mons, Belgium, and Allied Command Transformation (www.act.nato.int) headquartered in Norfolk, VA.

ACT is totally woke and is promoting all-female teams as a strategic advantage.  Because women are so good at war.

Gender is one area that has demonstrated operational advantage to NATO forces. Studies have shown that teams with diverse members generate a wider range of ideas and approaches. For example, according to Ms. Tess Butler, CEO of Ruddy Nice Ltd., the composition of wargaming teams can impact the tactics the team will use, with all female teams acting more often, but more covertly, as compared to all male teams.  This diversity of thought delivers a decisive military advantage against NATO’s adversary, Russia, and in the deterrence and defence against all potential threats. Integrating gender perspective into military planning helps create warfighting dilemmas for the enemy.  https://www.act.nato.int/article/gender-perspectives-warfighting-advantage/