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Soldiers of the "Fighting Eagles" 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, walk by tanks that arrived Feb. 14 via train at he U.S. base in Mihail Kogalniceanu, eastern Romania. (Associated Press File)

President Donald Trump is dead wrong in his repeated assertions that the NATO alliance is obsolete.

NATO is responsible for the longest period of peace in European history. Its basic assertion that an attack on one of its 28 members is an attack on all is a powerful deterrent that is effective in practice.

As the president denigrates the alliance, its interesting to note that the only time that NATO has invoked the measure responding as one to a single attack was in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Likewise, contrary to the presidents assertion, the alliance heavily is engaged against terrorists. NATO troops are the primary trainers of Iraqi and Kurdish ground troops who are grinding down the Islamic State terrorist organization.

Mr. Trump is on the mark, though, when he complains that some NATO members do not contribute adequately to funding the alliance. The administrations call for NATO members to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense is fair and reasonable.

The United States spends 3.61 percent of its GDP on defense. In dollars, it spends more than all other NATO members combined. Greece, Estonia, Britain and Poland spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense. Canada spends less than 1 percent. Germany spends 1.19 percent and France spends 1.78 percent.

While maintaining the U.S. commitment to the alliance, the administration should continue to press other alliance members to pick up their fair share of the costs.

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Better spread NATO costs - Scranton Times-Tribune