One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.
This is a tune that is played incessantly to officers of all branches from serviced ROTC year one, over and over. It is something that was once true during WW2 and the first half of the Cold War but has now become a shibboleth whose doctrinal utility is never examined. Alliances are only good for what good they can do a nation. This chestnut has become holy writ because FDR and George Marshall, and Truman and Dean Acheson and Eisenhower constantly repeated it. Mattis has heard since he was in high school. It is an unexamined credo that needs challenging. No, most of our so-calledallies today just want us around to do what they won't pay for due to their welfare state policies. France relied on the US to haul its troops to Afghanistan. Why. Well the French eliminated all their heavy lift forces after one of their socialist PM’s declared that France was done with significant operations in Africa or outside Western Europe. The money could be better spent in La Belle France. During the First Gulf War this cliche reached the level of the ridiculous with Sec State Baker stalling for time to not attack Iraq by lining up a host of worthless turd world ‘allies’ to have the US pay for them to come to Saudi Arabia and sit on their butts. The most ridiculous had to be the the shoeless and worthless contingent from Senegal which showed up with no weapons and a mismatch of uniform items and no real uniforms. Of course the US taxpayer ponied up for these turds to be armed, equipped, and uniformed and the US made sure they never got close to the battles zone as they would have been as useful as Soul Train.
I would hope Trump would convoke an unofficial put powerful executive committee not full of think tank whores such as Max Butt, and do a very through examination actual US interests and security requirements vis-a-vive the treaty system. We can get along without most of the so-called allied states and they are often more a problem than part of the solution today.
“One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.”
This is the precise opposite of the wise counsel of George Washington for America. But I doubt they study the founders or US Constitution these days.