Pentagon walks away from Canada-U.S. defence board

[SouthBayDem]

Source: CBC

The Trump administration is walking away from a long-running body that works on Canada-U.S. defence initiatives, claiming Canada has failed to meet its commitments on defence spending.

U.S. Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby announced Monday the Pentagon is "pausing" participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence, an advisory body on North American continental defence that was established in 1940.

"Only by investing in our own defense capabilities will Americans and Canadians be safe, secure, and prosperous," Colby wrote in a series of posts on X. "Unfortunately, Canada has failed to make credible progress on its defense commitments."

Colby's posts implicitly lay some blame for the U.S. move on Prime Minister Mark Carney's frequent statements about making alliances with countries other than the U.S., in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war and his calls for making Canada the 51st state.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-canada-us-joint-defence-board-9.7203211

[Fla Dem]

1. Any more former friends and allies we can slap in the face?

[Historic NY]

2. Partly because the US is pissed that Canada is aligning itself with EU and is not buying

US weapons and the suspended the purchase of the fighters.

[amcgrath]

3. Canada has increased defence spending considerably

But the US doesn’t mean increase defence spending. It means increasing defence buying, from them. It has always been this way for NATO members, and now more than ever, the US has an administration deeply rooted in extortion.The US arms industry supplies around 43% of the global arms market, with 60% of that being aircraft.
The three biggest manufacturers are all in the civilian airliner business too, with aircraft and parts being one of the USAs biggest exports. Countries are abandoning US airliners, meaning both civil and military divisions are suffering badly and unable to prop each other up. The US cannot force other countries to buy civilian planes (officially) so they use military claims and threats to force them to prop up what is a huge part of their economy.