Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Trump Strengthens NATO; Democrats Cry Foul


As you know, the dominant media narrative about Trump and NATO claims that Trump is about to withdraw from the alliance, thus committing the worst foreign policy error since… well, since the beginning of recorded history. Wouldn’t you think that our foreign policy sages would be able to tamp down the hyperbole... just for once?

And, for Congressional Democrats, there is always the Putin angle. These mini-minds are so completely obsessed with Putin that they have convinced themselves that Putin is forcing Trump to pull out of NATO, so that he can take over Europe. Call it symptom of derangement, or of the fact that no matter what Democrats say journalists and opinion writers will happily pick it up and run with it… until they tire of the heavy lifting.

Apparently, they are sorely discomfited by Trump’s harsh statements toward our so-called allies. You know which allies, the ones who are trying to save Iran from American sanctions… and then whine about not being treated as allies. NATO makes most European nations into American protectorates, but we are supposed to be so honored by the chance to spend money protecting them that we must not say anything about their failure to fulfill their financial obligations to NATO.

Now, apparently, it turns out that Trump’s tough talk has produced positive results. NATO countries have greatly increased their financial contributions to the alliance. We have it on the authority of the secretary general of the alliance.

USA Today reports:

President Donald Trump "is committed to NATO" and deserves credit in obtaining $100 billion more in defense spending for the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said Sunday. 

"President Trump has been very clear: He is committed to NATO. He stated that clearly just a few days ago and also at the NATO summit in July," Stoltenberg said on "Fox News Sunday."

Stoltenberg's comment stands in contrast to Democrats who fear Trump wants to pull out of NATO, and some who have expressed concern he could be undermining the military alliance because it benefits Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

A New York Times report earlier this month said Trump repeatedly told aides he wanted to pull out of the alliance. In response to the report, Democrats pushed for legislation requiring congressional approval of any move to leave NATO.

Give credit to USA today for daring to contradict the narrative spun by the New York Times and Democratic politicians.

Naturally, our ever-more pusillanimous radical left is horrified by Trump’s aggressive approach. It shows a lack of empathy, and we can’t have that. The problem is, it seems to be working:

Trump has also been criticized for his aggressive his approach in insisting America's "delinquent" allies pay a greater share toward the collective defense agreement. At the summit in July, he demanded the other members "immediately" increase their contributions. 

Stoltenberg said the tough approach paid off. 

"We agreed to do more to step up – and now we see the results. By the end of next year, NATO allies will add $100 billion extra toward defense," he said. "So we see some real money and some real results. And we see that the clear message from President Donald Trump is having an impact."

As for the Putin angle, Stoltenberg added this:

When asked if he was concerned that Trump was "helping Putin splinter NATO," Stoltenberg said, "What I see is that actually NATO is united because we are able to adapt to deliver. North America and Europe are doing more together now than before." 

Stoltenberg said Trump is helping "us adapt the alliance, which we need, because we live in a more unpredictable world." 

"And you have to remember that the increase we now see in defense spending by European and NATO allies comes after years of decline. So before they were cutting billions. Now they're actually adding billions," he said. 

Shocking, don’t you think?

3 comments:

Sam L. said...

European countries need to be able to defend themselves. They also should WANT to do so. It's been 28 years since the USSR fell apart. Ukraine is the only one still fighting the Russians. We've been there long enough.

UbuMaccabee said...

If Russia and Turkey moved on Europe, in concert, and the US wasn't there to do anything, it would be over in 2 weeks. Why anyone thinks that NATO was ever anything but 90% US, 7% Britain, and 3% French is beyond me. The only NATO nations that would have any fight in them are the ones that lived with the Russian boot on their necks. They'll fight. That's why Trump and the Eastern Europeans are aligned; we share the same correct view of reality.

You know who else fights? Donny from Queens, that's who. Donny fights. Against the entire media complex from TV to newspaper, half his own party, every Democrat, all the tech companies, every leftist around the globe, and our own deep state government, which includes the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, every government agency, a Special Prosecutor filled with 18 headhunting attorney generals looking to make a name for themselves, and his own justice department. Donny fights them all, all at once, every goddamned day, with Twitter, a smirk, and his magic cuff-links, and his long, red necktie that covers his balls against leftist witchery. Donny makes me want to go to the gym and hit that heavy bag for an hour in his honor.

And with all of that he has still found the stones to piss off the Russians all around the world, including selling Poland missile defense, arming the Ukraine, and calling out Germany for trying to build a pipeline so that Russia can sell them natural gas while simultaneously fucking over the Baltic States at will. And he rightly called out NATO for being a fraud, and entirely worthless if it every had to actually do its job. And most importantly, he told the Iranians and their European bootlickers that the deal was as dead as Hillary's grifter Foundation. Dead as the dead Russians he left all over the Syrian battlefield. He also reassured Egypt that we hate the Muslim Brotherhood as much as they do, and we told the Israelis that if they need to take out the trash, we sure as shit were not going to stop them. Iran can't go crying to Obama when Israel wipes out Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Golan, and Iranian regulars all over Syria (happy hunting, boys!).

And I'm digging the way he talks to the ChiComs. With robotics and automation, we can pull half our investments out of China, back here to the US; put 'em in Dixie, we love to run loud machines and the smell of heavy industry. And $20 says he prevails in Venezuela, and the Russians lose billions on that deal. And if they complain, we'll just dump enough oil and natural gas on the market to make sure Putin can't pay his goons; unpaid goons is a big liability in that business model. It's called fracking, and Donny and Rick Perry like it--a lot. And so does our economy. West Texas is swarming with decked out Ford 350's with wicked lift kits and lots of chrome. MAGA stickers in all the windows.

We're still the good guys, and Donny from Queens knows it. Who knew that the antidote to the "Last Men" would be Donald J. Trump.

Sam L. said...

UM? You "da Man".