Anderson Cooper(CNN) falsely claims NATO members arent expected to pay dues

[Barnacle]

I didn't address any "2%"...at least, not in this post.

Don't make me cry ...

 

[Mycroft]

Don't make me cry ...

Not trying to. Just being precise.

 

[Barnacle]

Not trying to. Just being precise.

Is your name sly?

 

[Slyfox696]

Okay. I watched the video.

This is the reason I don't watch these talking potato heads. Cooper spins everything.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm sure you didn't mean that to be ironic, but here we are.

He spins Trump's words.

He literally posted Trump's tweet.

He spins the facts about NATO. And then he comes to conclusions based on the spin...not on what Trump said.

For example...Cooper characterizes the operating costs of NATO to be a "token amount to keep the lights on". LOL!! NATO's operating budget is hardly a token amount and it pays for much more than to keep the lights on.

For 2018...

The Civil Budget - €245.8 million

The Military Budget - €1.325 billion

The NATO Security Investment Program - €700 million

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm
​

That's well over 2 billion Euros.

The United States alone spends $623 billion on defense and other NATO countries spend roughly $312 billion. Converting that to Euros comes to approximately €800.

That means 2 billion is .25% of the approximately 800 billion being spent by NATO countries on their defense. That is a "token amount".

You just can't help but spin, can you? Anderson Cooper was correct, the OP was wrong and you said things which weren't true.

Now...Trump said that the US has paid what other countries have not paid...that other countries are delinquent in their contributions. I don't know.

Yes you do know. You know Trump is not telling the truth because, as you said, the 2% is for an individual country's own defense, it doesn't get contributed to a general NATO fund.

That may or may not be true. I did a little research, but haven't been able to find out the dollar amount that all member nations actually paid. It is entirely possible that the US HAS covered what other countries have not paid. Cooper doesn't address that issue. He just contends that Trump is flat out wrong and Cooper's expressed, spinning reasoning is faulty.

Because Trump said, in the tweet Cooper displayed, "Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in payments that have not been made. Will they reimburse the U.S.?"

In other words, Cooper addressed Trump's actual words and Trump's actual words were absolutely false. You even agreed earlier in this thread Trump was not telling the truth. You trying to spin it now is silly.

Bottom line...Cooper may or may not actually know the facts. I don't know one way or the other.

Yes you do because you already stated them. Why post lies about it now?

But what he said in his monologue is a mish-mash of fact

No it's not. You are now choosing to post things which are false. It's a shame too, because your truth telling earlier was refreshing.

What is really weird is that because I didn't use the exact, specific terminology to phrase my statement I am accused of lying and being ignorant of how NATO works.

No, it's because you knowingly posted things which are false, which have been shown to you are false, which is why it was said you posted a lie.

That's how Sly operates.

Uh, your post also proved Barnacle was not telling the truth. So you're right there with me, friend.

I didn't address any "2%"...at least, not in this post.

Isn't it fun when even the propagandists you support don't tell the truth about your own posts?

 

[Mycroft]

The United States alone spends $623 billion on defense and other NATO countries spend roughly $312 billion. Converting that to Euros comes to approximately €800.

That means 2 billion is .25% of the approximately 800 billion being spent by NATO countries on their defense. That is a "token amount".

I'll address one item in that mess you posted because this is typical of your tactics.

What was talked about had nothing to do with how much the US spends on defense. I...and Cooper...was talking about what countries spend for NATO operations. Cooper characterized more than 2 billion Euros as a "token amount to keep the lights on". I showed him to be just plain wrong about that. Your comment is uselessly irrelevant. It's a red herring wrapped in a strawman. But hey...it's typical tactics coming from you.

Anyway. You love to get the last word, I know. Here's your chance. Go for it.

You are dismissed.

 

[Slyfox696]

I'll address one item in that mess you posted because this is typical of your tactics.

The fact you think truth telling is a "tactic" I believe speaks volumes. It's not tactics to point out facts. It's not tactics to point out you agreed that Trump was not telling the truth and that what Cooper said was correct.

What was talked about had nothing to do with how much the US spends on defense. I...and Cooper...was talking about what countries spend for NATO operations.

Nope. Cooper was addressing Trump's 2% argument and, as an aside to be factually accurate (because people like you would try to twist his words, as you tried to do before the video was posted), said the "keep the lights" on amount was a pittance...which is 100% true. After the aside, he went on to explain, as you and I have both done in this thread, why Trump was not telling the truth.

Cooper characterized more than 2 billion Euros as a "token amount to keep the lights on".

It is within the context of this discussion. Anderson Cooper was absolutely correct. .25% is a token amount in the context of the discussion he was having. You know it is true and you know Anderson Cooper was 100% correct about Trump being wrong on the 2% NATO fund, which is why you're trying to engage in yet another attempt at a red herring.

But Cooper was right, as were you and I when we said the OP (and thus, Trump) was wrong.

I showed him to be just plain wrong about that.

You think .25% is anything more than a token amount?

Your comment is uselessly irrelevant.

No, it isn't. Your comment was just stupid and my comment provided the context to prove it. :shrug:

It's a red herring wrapped in a strawman. But hey...it's typical tactics coming from you.

I wonder if you even understand what those words mean...

Anderson Cooper was addressing the topic within the context of billions of euros. .25% is a token amount. He was right and your desperate red herring trying to convert relative numbers to absolute is painfully obvious.

Anyway. You love to get the last word, I know. Here's your chance. Go for it.

As usual, I am right and you know it so you leave. Happens all the time.

The amusing part about this is how you are running away from being correct. You were correct when you said the OP (and thus, Trump) was wrong about the 2%. But then you realized that meant you agreed with CNN's Anderson Cooper against Trump and, obviously, you couldn't let that happen. This is the problem with being that kind of a poster. You don't even get to enjoy being correct (which, I suspect, is not your primary motivation for posting). You were correct in pointing out the OP and Trump were wrong, but now you have to back away from being right because it meant Trump was not telling the truth.

Actually, that's an interesting experiment. Let's try it.

Is Donald Trump telling the truth when he clearly suggests NATO countries are supposed to spend 2% to a general defense fund and that, because they haven't, the United States has had to pay their share? Keeping in mind you've already stated that is not true...is Donald Trump telling the truth?

You see, I've long had suspicions about your motivations for posting. I'd love to be wrong. For that to happen, you have to admit what you've already proven. So let's see...was Donald Trump not telling the truth in that tweet Anderson Cooper put up?

 

[Lord Tammerlain]

I am literally watching Anderson Cooper's show right now, so there's no YouTube video up yet to upload.

At the beginning of the show, Anderson Cooper started out with a diatribe about how Trump is lying about NATO countries not paying their fair share. He claimed that "there is no 'pot' that countries are expected to pay into to fund NATO". He continued trying to make the point that NATO members DONT have to pay anything to support the organization.

However, in the very next sentence, he admits that there is an agreement between NATO countries to pay at least 2% of their own GDP to fund Nato, AND that aside from the US(we have been paying 3.5% annually), only Britain has paid anything near 2%(they paid 2.1%), while Germany, France and others are paying 1.2%, 1.35% and 1.8%).

Either this is yet another example of CNN to argue, using deceptive semantics, or they are just hoping that they have sufficiently vilified republicans, that their viewers are willing to swallow whatever nonsense they hear.

The funniest part of the interview was when they had their 'military expert', Col Ralph Peters, push additional propaganda, by vilifying Trump using several personal insults. Its funny, because Peters used to work at Fox, where he ALWAYS ridiculed democrats, especially Obama!

You fail to understand what Cooper was saying and how Nato operates

Nato members do have to send money to the organization to fund the organization.

The US for 2017 funded Nato to the amount of $540 million dollars

Germany in 2017 funded Nato to the amount of $358 million dollars


The 2% target you mentioned is not money to fund Nato, anyone who says that is very poorly informed. The 2% target is a target for how much members of Nato agreed to spend on their military's as a % of GDP. It is how much they fund Nato

Example, the US spends 3.57% of its GDP on its military. Some of its military iacs used on a continuous basis in support of Nato. A more significant amount of US military spending is used on activities in the Pacific ocean, the Mid East and Africa. None of which have anything to due to Nato's reason for existence.