"David T" <icne2469nospam@yahoo.com> wrote...
> Its time has gone. It's time for the US to save significant dollars
> and let Europe defend itself against the non-existent threat of the
> Communist Block. The US should pull out and the European troops should
> become the military arm of the EU.
> 
> The Cold War is over. End NATO and the wasted US dollars.

As an American, I'm inclined to agree.  Especially with the recent
addition of former Warsaw Pact countries, you have to wonder exactly
what threat NATO is defending Europe against.

Right now the U.S. government budget is stretched to its limit and
beyond, currently adding $500 billion or so in deficit each year,
and even that is insufficient to give Americans everything they need.
For example, there is a serious health care crisis in the U.S. right
now, with perhaps 40% of Americans lacking health coverage.  There
seems to be no money to solve that problem, but plenty of money for
the military, which includes the NATO alliance.  Then we watch as
the damn Europeans pay relatively little in comparison for their
defense, and enjoy all the benefits of fully-funded medical care.  If
Europeans had to actually pay for most of their defense, their level
of medical care might be reduced, but then the U.S. could afford to
cover more of its citizens.  This is just one example, there are
countless other things the U.S. could do with the money it saved from
reducing its defense of Europe.

The EU is extremely wealthy.  They can certainly afford to defend
themselves.  If they just cut their cradle-to-grave welfare state
benefits by 10% they could achieve a defense capability equivalent
to the U.S.  The only real threat the EU faces is terrorism, and so
far I haven't seen NATO forces used to fight terrorist groups even
once.