The military alliance’s 32 members claimed they had “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s war effort. But even this is not true.
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Has the recent NATO summit left you dazed and confused? Don’t worry. It was meant to. The big idea of world leaders and Biden is to throw up into the air much talk about bigger defence spending and an impending war with Russia and then sit back and see the results, if any of it sticks with member states’ governments, press and the general public.
NATO signed off a relatively small package of military spending for next year but the meeting itself seemed shrouded in lies, double talk and duplicity. Where was the truth? Or is it that NATO members themselves are so confused and have no idea where the Ukraine war is heading? The news seemed to fall into three main categories of fake news. 1. Outright lies 2. Half-truths based on ideology 3. Fake news which has a particular goal and longer-term strategy.
“NATO members have pledged their support for an ‘irreversible path’ to future membership for Ukraine, as well as more aid,” a headline reads. This one was a good example of fake news as all NATO bosses know that there is no way Ukraine can join NATO as this would be too great a provocation of Putin and might mean the war being ratcheted up a few notches. Even NATO itself released a statement a week or so earlier saying that Ukraine couldn’t join NATO as it was “too corrupt”. Don’t NATO spin doctors even read their own propaganda?
While a formal timeline for it to join the military alliance was not agreed at a summit in Washington DC, the military alliance’s 32 members claimed they had “unwavering” support for Ukraine’s war effort. But even this is not true. Spending is down from most western countries. Perhaps the “unwavering support” was more ideological but one has to really even question that when you look at the polls. Of course, what is meant is that the elites haven’t budged but there is even some flexibility in this interpretation.
At a glance at the spending and the military kit, most would agree that there is still firm support. But here’s where the outright lies start to emerge, especially over planes which are expected to be a game changer. First, it was infantry, then it was tanks, then long-range missiles. And after all this has failed, the new fad is a dogfight in the skies. Where will we go after this one is lost? Space, the final frontier?
NATO announced further integration with Ukraine’s military and its members have committed €40bn ($43.3bn) in aid in the next year, including F-16 fighter jets and air defence support. But Anthony Blinken’s comment has thrown us all. He said at a press conference that these fighter jets will be in the skies sooner than expected.
“I’m also pleased to announce that as we speak, the transfer of F-16 jets is underway, coming from Denmark, coming from the Netherlands,” Blinken said.
“And those jets… will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression.”
This summer? How is that possible given that Ukrainian pilots need at the bare minimum training for these older generation fighter jets. Either this is a bare faced lie just to sex up the narrative, given that NATO most days looks like a loser in the war in Ukraine, or there will be U.S. pilots to fly them. And given that British made Storm Shadow rockets are being fired into Russia, manned by British soldiers, one could imagine such an act of unedifying stupidity from Blinken. Rumours of adverts appearing in flight magazines for retired pilots to “work abroad” have been circulating. Is this the big plan?
But it’s member states themselves who are the most confused as despite the hype there is a lack of unity within NATO about how to best proceed. With Britain’s Keir Starmer throwing his weight behind the Ukraine war and support of NATO some hacks were left confused by the sincerity of this move. Previously in the months leading up to the elections in Britain, Starmer was reported to have said he wouldn’t back the 2.5% rise in defence spending agreed by Rishi Sunak. Now he is saying he will. Or is he? Coinciding with the NATO press coverage, a report in the UK entitled “Labour will not boost military spend without economic growth, says minister” might irk him.
The Labour government will not increase spending on the military unless it is also able to grow the economy, Starmer’s armed forces minister has said.
Luke Pollard said on July 10th the government “wanted to hit the target promised by the former prime minister Rishi Sunak, but would not be able to do so without economic growth”.
His comments undermine the PM’s and come as the prime minister began a two-day visit to Washington DC for the 75th-anniversary Nato summit, making Starmer look somewhat stupid and disconnected to his own government’s policies.
Pollard told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The way we deliver increased public spending on defence, on schools, hospitals or prisons, is by growing our economy. If we don’t grow our economy, there won’t be the money to support those public services and the ambitions that we have – and that includes defence.”
Oops.
