Poète dubitatif

NATO has taken advantage of us for decades. How many of our sons and daughters have to die protecting these cowards before we tell them to fuck off? Well, now they had better start worrying because they will soon be on their own. We need to pick better allies.

Agree with all of this - I wrote some of those polite speeches - except we need to remember that many of our allies (Greece, Romania, Croatia, Estonia etc) helped us during this war without being a threatened or cajoled. France long been pathetic, as have Spain and Germany. Britain’s weakness is newer, though not unprecedented (remember Neville Chamberlain). But we don’t need something new. We simply need to shift the gravity of the alliance away from “Old Europe” toward “New Europe.” Reward allies who step up, punish those who do not. Move bases from Germany to Romania, Poland, the Balts. And make clear the we will only apply Art V to dependable allies who meet their commitments.

The Europeans are not dealing with “a man.” They are dealing with the United States of America. The United States needed the most innocuous kind of cooperation from them. They denied the United States that cooperation. The implied argument is that their obligations within our alliance depend on whether they like the guy we chose as our president. “Sure, we’re allies…if we approve of who you elected.” Nope. We are not going to forget, and we’re not going to forgive. I’m indifferent to their excuses or their rationalizations. The United States of America needed their help and not very much help. They turned us down. That changes everything. And they aren’t going to like how it changes everything.

I appreciate a lot of the comments I’ve gotten over the last 24 underscoring that the President has been attacking NATO for years. And my answer to that is, yep, he shouldn’t do that. NATO has a venerable history. Here are my questions for his critics: * Did Trump cause Europe’s fail in the Balkans? * Did Trump cause Europe to prioritize Russian oil? * Did Trump cause Europe to build Nordstream? * Did Trump make Europe (and Canada) stop investing in defense? Yeah. NATO allies stopped behaving like true partners a while ago. And that’s not on Trump.

When this is over, the western part of NATO will never be the same. Spain, England, France and Italy have sold us out, as they too often have a history of doing. Eastern European nations are the heart of NATO. They spend money on defense, know how to fight and love the US. France particularly deserves fault and blame. From supporting China and Russia at the UN to denying Americans overflight rights, they’re doing what they’ve always done - showing weakness, while cutting deals with terrorists. (The reason the US has a Marine Corps and Navy is unlike France, we refused to pay a ransom to the Barbary Pirates. France is always happy to cut a deal.) Wars have unintended consequences as nations show their true colors. NATO will never be the same, and Western European weakness and acquiescence is the cause.

Our best European ally — by far.

I am and always have been a fan of France. I started studying French in 4th grade. I minored in French in college and love travelling there. But France today is a problem. France is guided by “France first.” Unlike “America First” which strengthens and benefits the world militarily, commercially and morally, France First sells out to the highest bidder. It’s the underbelly of French historical collaboration with Nazi Germany. It undermines the West, and Ukraine, as France cuts deals with Russian and is a top buyer of Russian natural gas. It’s why they work with the IRGC in Iran so French ships can transit the Straits of Hormuz. There’s no one they won’t cut a commercial deal with. Their immigration policies have turned their country substantially over to Muslims whose motives and influence are even more problematic. All that is bad enough. But now they won’t give the US overflight rights as we fight in Iran. We don’t want their troops or their ships. We want and should have overflight rights. France is a historical headache for the US and much of the west. French governments relish playing that role. France is only sometimes an ally. France is a real problem for the West.

To those saying the US should just leave the Hormuz problem to others: Iran will charge all ships heavy tolls. Pathetic European countries will pay the toll. The regime will get billions of dollars of additional revenue, which will all go to rebuilding nuclear capabilities.

Name a better trio…I’ll wait 😋

I think we should no longer protect these countries, you?