A true sign of mutual respect among friends is to be honest with each other. You demonstrate how much you value a friendship by being clear, direct, and fair when you outline where your friend is either abusing your friendship or is acting in a way that is self-destructive to their well-being and those around them.

One of the useful secondary effects of being clear and direct with your friends is that you quickly discover, by their reaction, if they were every your friend in the first place.

The fact that many in NATO have not been contributing in a fair way to collective defense has been an open sore for a long time. Over at my homeblog, we’ve reviewed the issue on a regular basis over the years, most significantly while discussing General Craddock’s 2009 farewell, and Bob Gates’s 2011 speech. There are legion other moments when American and other alliance leaders have openly broached the subject. No one should be on the fainting couch that SECDEF Mattis is taking President Trump’s message on fairness to Brussels.

As reported by the AP;

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday issued a sharp ultimatum to NATO Wednesday, telling allies they must start increasing defense spending by year’s end or the Trump administration will “moderate its commitment” to them.
…
“No longer can the American taxpayer carry a disproportionate share of the defense of Western values,” Mattis told the alliance’s 27 other defense ministers, according to a text of his remarks. “Americans cannot care more for your children’s future security than you do.”
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Mattis noted Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and the Islamic State group’s hold over parts of Iraq and Syria, and said that “some in this alliance have looked away in denial of what is happening.”

Using a percentage of GDP is not a perfect benchmark, but it is a good one – fair to large nations and small.

I served for years seconded to NATO. I greatly care for the alliance and its ideals, but I won’t ignore how it is destroying itself. For over a decade online and face to face with NATO officers, I, along with many others, have warned that the American people have never been comfortable with their global responsibilities post-WW2. They understand and support the requirement grudgingly, but are not comfortable with it.

The American people also do not like being taken advantage of by freeloaders in their personal, professional, national, or international lives. No one does.

The trend for the last 15 years has been clear to anyone who was listening; we were just one election away from having the American people decided they were tired of being “Uncle Sucker.” Well, it appears that we had that election, and our NATO allies need to understand this reality.

Asking for fairness of effort is not an unreasonable request. The rest of the alliance needs to look at joining those members meeting the modest 2% of GDP minimum benchmark; USA, GBR, POL, EST, and even desperately poor GRC. FRA, TUR, LTU, ROM, and LVA are only .5% away.

The rest of alliance members? There needs to be consequences. Alliance consequences are preferred sooner more than later, or the USA may take steps on its own that no one will like.

If I may make a simple but effective suggestion to my NATO friends to start? Flags to post.

If a member state does not reach at least 1.5% by 2019 and 2% of GDP by 2022, then that state will not get a single General Officer/Flag Officer NATO billet, and their allotment of Colonel/Captain (OF5) billets will be reduced by 50%.

Trust me, that will get attention – and might buy time to prevent unilateral action by the USA against those nations who are content to defend their nation to the last American.

UPDATE: You can hear his comments below.