Like Trump, Does Bernie Still Think NATO Is A Waste of Money?

[TomCADem]

16. Feelthebern - Bernie In 1997 - NATO a Waste of Taxpayer Dollars

I know a lot of folks are either claiming these sources are Fake News or just saying what-about-(insert name) or just blaming Obama, but here is feel the bern website compiling Bernie’s anti-NATO/pro-Russia views:

http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-nato/

What is Bernie’s opinion on NATO expansion?
He’s against it, claiming it is a waste of taxpayer dollars and not geo-politically sound. In 1997, as a congressman, Bernie said:

“After four decades of the cold war and trillions of United States taxpayer dollars allocated to compete in the arms race, many of our constituents understand that it is not the time to continue wasting tens of billions of dollars helping to defend Europe, let alone assuming more than our share of any costs associated with expanding NATO eastward.”

Why would Bernie want to prevent countries from joining?
Bernie sees the eastward expansion of NATO as an unnecessary provocation of Russia — and, as stated in the quote above, he’s not interested in revisiting the Cold War era when Russia and the U.S. were constantly pitted against each other.

Even “pro-western” politicians in Russia have been hesitant to support NATO’s expansion to include Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the Baltic states that were part of the former Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s personal envoy even suggested that Finland’s membership in NATO would start “World War III,” while Putin himself referred to Ukraine’s potential membership as a “direct threat” to Russian national security.

Learn more about Bernie’s stance on Putin at the Russia issue page.

Are there other reasons Bernie opposes NATO expansion?
American taxpayers pay for 22 percent of NATO’s budget, contributing nearly $712 million in 2010. Most of America’s NATO allies have been decreasing their military spending, while the U.S. contributes more than twice as much as the second-largest funder. Bernie believes Europeans should play a larger role in funding the defense budget of a primarily European coalition.