NATO spending cuts wrong

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: An analysis of the 2015 spending plans of the countries in the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization indicates that the old problem of the United States bearing a disproportionate share of its cost is getting worse rather than better.

All NATO countries are pledged to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product per year on defense. This commitment was repeated most recently at the September NATO summit in Wales and at a defense ministers’ conference in Brussels Feb. 5. The reality is far from the promises, says a report prepared by European Leadership Network think tank.

The U.S. finances 75 percent of NATO expenditures with a defense budget of $585 billion for 2015, or 3.6 percent of U.S. GDP. Only one other country, tiny Estonia, plans to meet the 2 percent commitment in 2015 as of now. The United Kingdom will be cutting its defense budget by 2.5 percent, putting it under the 2 percent level for the first time.

What has been called “burden sharing” has been a problem for the United States since NATO’s founding in 1949.

The real question is how long the American taxpayer is prepared to finance European countries’ defense.