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NATO's Challenge Is Germany, Not America
National Review ^ | July 19, 2018 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 07/19/2018 6:59:23 AM PDT by C19fan

During the recent NATO summit meeting, a rumbustious Donald Trump tore off a thin scab of niceties to reveal a deep and old NATO wound -- one that has predated Trump by nearly 30 years and goes back to the end of the Cold War.

In an era when the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact are now ancient history, everyone praises NATO as "indispensable" and "essential" to Western solidarity and European security. But few feel any need to explain how and why that could still be so.

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Germany; Russia
KEYWORDS: nato
If Germany is unwilling to spend any blood and treasure to protect itself why should the US be expected to?
1 posted on 07/19/2018 6:59:23 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

NATO’s challenge is relevance.


2 posted on 07/19/2018 7:00:11 AM PDT by TADSLOS
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To: C19fan

The real question isn’t, will the US fight to defend Montenegro, because the answer is almost certainly “yes”. The question is, will Germany? Can Germany fight to defend itself even? Will the key continental member of NATO expend German blood to make an effective defense of a tiny country Germans don’t care about?


3 posted on 07/19/2018 7:09:19 AM PDT by marron
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To: C19fan

So, NATO boils down to Europe holding our coat while we do the fighting.


4 posted on 07/19/2018 7:10:23 AM PDT by marron
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To: C19fan

One of the reasons the US kept thousands of troops and naval forces around the world was to prevent them having to fight on the landing beaches of North Carolina or California.
We protected Europe, yes, but the FIRST line of land defense was the IRON CURTAIN through Europe. The plan did work, no fighting along our EAST pr WEST coasts.
The country we were defending against, the USSR, has happily gone out of business.


5 posted on 07/19/2018 7:12:03 AM PDT by CaptainAmiigaf ( i)
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To: TADSLOS

Relevance dried up around 1990 when the Wall came down. There is no enemy. The Russians absolutely depend upon the Germans to buy their gas and oil. No one is going to do anything to disrupt that.

There is no need for any US presence to exist in Europe, and it’s to even find logic to be in the Middle East.


6 posted on 07/19/2018 7:13:47 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: marron

Very good point. Look at the German “military’s” actions in Afghanistan!. Won’t work if it’s too hot/cold or dangerous. But they allow the homos to sleep together...


7 posted on 07/19/2018 7:16:31 AM PDT by rrrod (just an old guy with a gun in his pocket)
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To: pepsionice

The ONLY reason to have a continued military basing presence in Europe is to have deployment projection platforms as a contingency and even those should be given serious scrutiny.

Our Navy already provides us global projection at sea.

We really need the bulk of our military focused on our own borders and get out of the business of nation building tribal shitholes.


8 posted on 07/19/2018 7:22:11 AM PDT by TADSLOS
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To: C19fan

Who would’ve ever thought that we might once again be facing a reality of Germany and Britain aligning as ideological foes of the US, let alone simultaneously?

Makes perfect sense when you view the whole “Russia is evil” BS without the rose-colored glasses...

...but that IS the reality


9 posted on 07/19/2018 7:30:23 AM PDT by logi_cal869 (-cynicus-)
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To: C19fan
It's WW3, and Germany was winning, before President Trump got in office. They bully the EU by buying off leaders of countries; they use NATO military forces for expansion.

The problem is useful idiots. What about people who through their whole lives wanted an end to regime change, wars that aren't necessary, and for world leaders to talk to and respect one another? Now they're idiotically banging the war drums and supporting Globalist Elitists who strive for World Domination.

grrr…..end of rant.

10 posted on 07/19/2018 7:32:01 AM PDT by grania (President Trump, stop believing the Masters of War!)
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To: C19fan

Germany today, united, is not what it was when NATO was founded. Absorbing those socialists had an impact on what and how they would have to do things going forward. It is what happens when borders collapse. We should take heed from that.


11 posted on 07/19/2018 7:34:03 AM PDT by Mouton (The media is the enemy of the people.)
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To: C19fan

The challenge is Turkey.


12 posted on 07/19/2018 7:35:38 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: TADSLOS

Is there even a need for any kind of military presence in Europe? In 1977, we were worried about the Legions of Lenin just a stone’s throw (or artillery round) away from the Rhine, the Channel, and by implication, the Atlantic. And the Red Army was a monstrously large, well-equipped and threatening organization.

Where are the armies today? Russia does not have anywhere near the military capability that the old USSR had. Sure, they have a pile of nukes, but since World War 2, the only thing important about nukes is having them, not using them. The Russian army of today is not a significant threat. The rest of the armies of Europe are just token police forces. Probably the best of them are the French, who are actively fighting against the Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa.

The only real conventional military threat in the world is the growing size and power of China. So long as we show a commitment to defend our interests in the eastern Pacific, we can count on strong support from South Korea and Japan. That’s where we should concentrate our attention.

Europe, militarily, is no longer relevant, nor worth defending. Especially if they are not interested in defending themselves.


13 posted on 07/19/2018 7:45:03 AM PDT by henkster (Monsters from the Id.)
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To: C19fan

Germany will become, once again, a YUGE problem for not just the United States, but for the world, once again. Watch. It’s in progress.


14 posted on 07/19/2018 9:30:37 AM PDT by PrairieLady2
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To: PrairieLady2

“The Hun is always either at your throat or your feet.” - Churchill


15 posted on 07/19/2018 9:31:45 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

They only respect strength, which is why Trump is so important. What happens in the future is what scares me...


16 posted on 07/19/2018 11:01:12 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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