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Right now NATO is the United States. Tucker Carlson has a point when he claims that this conflict doesn't concern the US, it really doesn't. It concerns Europe.
by cm2187 5y ago
Right now NATO is the United States. Tucker Carlson has a point when he claims that this conflict doesn't concern the US, it really doesn't. It concerns Europe. And with 450m people and that GDP, the EU shouldn't be a third wheel in this conflict, and it is the EU, not Biden, who should have detered Russia. It is time that Europe takes its defense seriously, starting with Germany.
International treaties are only worth the will of the signing parties to enforce them. Just like the Budapest Memorandum. And NATO is just another treaty.
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoThe problem is political, it is not shortage of planes, tanks and missiles. Europe has more and better military hardware than Russia in every category except SAMs. The challange is EU governments and armies don't act in unison.
- cm2187 5y agoI agree with your point on the political challenges, but not with your point on military hardware. There was a recent report on the French military by the rand corporation that stated that France wouldn't be able to sustain a long conflict [1], and the Franco-British intervention in Libya was critically dependent on US logistics and intelligence. I don't think that it is the european armies that provide the Baltic states any comfort right now. [1] https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA231-1.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA231-1.html
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoThank you for the link, haven't had a chance to read it yet, but this seems to talk about opearting in a distant theater while the scenario here is 'home turf' and we would be adding up 27 countries that make up Europe?
- cm2187 5y agoI think the report is explicitly assessing France’s readiness for a large conventional war in eastern europe.
- TrispusAttucks 5y agoTotally agree. Europe's deterrent is basically "We're really good friends with the USA." What does the USA gain from this setup?
- cm2187 5y agoAnd also given Biden's performance so far, it is not impossible the US gets run by Trump or a Trump-like soon. What will NATO assurances be worth then?
- inductive_magic 5y ago> What does the USA gain from this setup? The deal used to be that we soak up the refugees created in their wars, while also providing the military bases (think Rammstein etc) that cement their power, etc. When media figures in the US make it look like the US were the generous gifters of freedom and security, and their allies are effectively parasites, that’s just populism/right-wing agitation.