German SecDef pleads for NATO to continue...

via Sputnik

The 'World still needs NATO' wrote German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen in an impassioned appeal to support the increasingly unpopular military bloc.

In an effusive New York Times opinion piece published Friday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen pleaded for support for the continuation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), even as the bloc increasingly comes under fire from nationalist political movements across Europe.

Describing NATO as an "emotional bond" between Europe and the US, the top Berlin military official appealed for a continuation of the alliance, now seen as being under threat of dissolution after 70 years, particularly at the hands of an acrimonious US president, Donald Trump, according to the New York Times.

Story here. 

This is puzzling.

Germany isn't holding up it's fair share of the burden of defending Europe but they plead for NATO to continue?

US policymakers shout to the rooftops that NATO is needed to blunt Russia but when was the last time we practiced moving a division worth of armor from the US there?

She goes for the emotional instead of the practical?

I would think that she would appeal to our intellect not our emotions.  The fact that she didn't lay out a solid case for continuing NATO but instead chose to use the words "emotional bond" says everything.

Even our disposition of forces on the continent tells us that they're not really designed to blunt a Russian attack.

Where once we had heavy armored divisions we know have paratroopers in Italy and stored Marine gear in Norway along with a Stryker Brigade running all over the continent in show the flag ops.

Long short?

Not even the US military believes Russia is gonna invade Western Europe.