Germany gears up to become world's third-largest military spender - Al Jazeera

[TexasTowelie]

Germany is gearing up to become the world's third-largest military spender after the United States and China.

As NATO members ramp up military spending after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a German parliamentary report has suggested the German military is lacking everything from heavy equipment to warm underwear.

Critics have pointed out that the country has already increased its military spending by 55 percent in the past eight years, and they propose that efficiency, not money, is the problem.

Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen has more from Berlin.

[PortTack]

1. They should..sharing an eastern border with Poland, they would be #2 on russia's hit list

[tclambert]

2. What could possibly go wrong with Germany re-arming?

What was it Tom Lehrer said? "We beat them in 1918, and they've hardly bothered us since then."

[Haggard Celine]

3. The difference today is that now Germany is being more or less

encouraged to re-arm themselves. When I was young, I wouldn't have anticipated that. But if you wait around long enough, things have a way of coming full circle. I like to think that Germany has learned lessons from the last time they were fully armed. Germans I have known were still very embarrassed about the Nazi history, as they should be. But their economy is the powerhouse of Europe, and due to their geography, they are in the perfect position to be one of the last lines of defense against Russian aggression. I hope they can use their military for good rather than evil this time.

[Irish_Dem]

4. That is what we said after WWI. And today the Germans have been lukewarm against Putin.

They dismissed the threat because they are more focused on revenue.

But I hope you are right.