Posted on 03/27/2016 9:44:06 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Daily Beast's foreign correspondent, Christopher Dickey, didn't pull any punches when asked what most Europeans think of GOP presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and their recent statements about NATO and dealing with ISIS.
After playing footage of former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sec. of State John Kerry responding to Trump's assertion that the United States should rework our relationship with NATO, along with Ted Cruz and his constant threats to use carpet bombing to deal with ISIS, here's how Dickey responded to Chris Jansing's request for comment.
JANSING: What's the concern that you're hearing Chris, over on this side of the Atlantic and what would the possible repercussions be if there was serious conversation about the United States basically strategically changing the face of NATO?
DICKEY: Well, I don't think anybody really thinks that the United States is going to do that, but this feeds into a whole sort of malaise, to use the French word, about American reliability. Are the American people you can count on? Europe has counted on the American alliance as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ever since World War II. Now it's looking at a situation where a demagogue is running for president and says it's just too expensive, that maybe we should pull out and it isn't good at fighting terrorism anyway.
Well, okay. But it is good at helping to contain Russia, which is evermore aggressive. So when Hillary Clinton talked about Russia, or Putin particularly, feeling like it would be Christmas in the Kremlin, she's exactly right. When Trump says it's not good at fighting terrorism, okay. That's right. It's not a terrorist fighting organization, but there are other organizations that are developed and need to be developed more, but not by getting out of NATO.
It's a typical populist non sequitur. It sounds good to people who don't know anything about Europe and don't know anything about NATO, and frankly, don't know anything about terrorism, will say, ah well, that Mr. Trump, he sounds pretty good. But he doesn't to anybody who's got half a brain.
[…]
Well, these are frightening times in Europe for a lot of reasons. The economy is not in great shape, particularly here in France. The terrorism threat has been growing. There are wars all over the place, little wars that sometimes Americans don't even notice. You've got the push by Russia into Ukraine and the threat to the Baltics. All this going on makes people very, very nervous, and they'd like to think that their American friends would be reliable friends.
But now, they see what looks very much like a circus to them. […] Europeans look at this and they don't just scratch their heads. They shake their heads as though they're looking at the doom of the world. They really see it as an incredibly negative thing and then when you've got Ted Cruz on the other side saying we're going to carpet bomb places, well, good luck with that Ted.
That's not going to take care of ISIS, but that is going to cause a horrific blowback against America around the world. So I think that they are looking at a situation where they believe they are reasonable people, Europeans, and they are looking at an American political situation that is extraordinarily unreasonable, theatrical and dangerous.
So they’re afraid of two guys who want to kill beloved jihadis. Stockholm syndrome.
“Horrifying” the owned traitor of the politician-msm “liberal-fascist” caste is a good point .
We need to get rid of those traitors who put their grip on the powers of our societies
Europe won't even defend itself. It's committing slow suicide.
What are we supposed to do? What do they expect us to do.?
If they won't help themselves, why should we?
They don't like us anyway. They criticize us for the way we deal with things and then complain that we aren't *helping* them.
Why SHOULD we help them?
Besides, I really didn't see where the article actually addressed the reasons those men *horrify* most Europeans.
As always, your perspective is interesting. Two questions for you: Does the average European hold Ronald Reagan in high regard? Do they give Reagan credit for helping bring down the Iron Curtain?
I'm guessing that the answer to the latter question depends on whether you are western or eastern European. Correct?
Reagan is a double-edged sword when you go and discuss in any European situation.
The intellectual types will say that Reagan brought this big fear of nuclear war into being. Their argument is marginalized because it’s only because of Reagan and the ‘Star Wars’ build-up...that the Wall collapses, Germany is united, and individual states now exist where it was west versus east.
For most under the age of twenty-five....the old East and West Germany history is almost non-existent. German TV tries to rekindle the history-telling but frankly...the younger generation doesn’t care. There’s less and less enthusiasm or thrills over WW II, the 1930s, WW I, and especially for anything going into the 1800s or beyond.
I noticed about a year ago....state-run TV in Germany went and hired a prominent Australian history professor who teaches at Cambridge (I think) on German history. They built up a six-hour piece that was probably the best constructed history lecture, with him at the locations, and talking two thousand years of German history. The thing is...it ran only on state-run TV and you just don’t have anyone much under the age of twenty-five that watches German state-run TV. Even from the 25-to-40 age group....it’s fairly dismal audiences.
I’d probably say there are regional opinions that go past west or east. You’d get three or four opinions from Greek people....five or six from Danish....a dozen-odd opinions from Brits.
I would add this final observation. Jimmy Carter is mostly forgotten today in Europe...other than the peace treaty business. I think in a dozen years....President Obama will be at the level as Carter....forgotten. There’s literally nothing achieved during his period, that has any impact on Europeans. That in itself...is a curiosity.
Euroweenies are extreme left-wingers; socialist of the worst kind.
What, the reverberations of all those bombs going off in their midst have died away already? ....
And the thunder of those ISIS explosive charges laid directly on the treasures of antiquity in Palmyra and Nineveh? Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and the real site of the great Hanging Gardens of Babylon built by one of the Assyrian kings.
But O-bomb-a started all this by giving the jihadist movements enormous "face" with his Cairo speech, his bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia, apologizing to basically everyone on earth for the white crackers in his country that had embarrassed him and God's chillun and their liberal friends so ..... He signed a check for backbreaking sums of moral capital on our accounts in favor of every little raggie raver with a cheesy two-bit beef of some kind about America -- their women are uncovered!, what Jezebels, they deserve to be raped by the Faithful of Islam! -- and went around the world telling everyone how worthless his fellow-citizens are, he's really sorry about that, you people have no idea how unpleasant it is to put up with white Americans day after day at close quarters, they think they're all that and a bag of french fries, you'd think they'd gone to the moon or something!
I'm sick of that guy, but people will be getting killed for 20 years because of the crap he pulled on so many levels, not the least of which has been trying to make the American majority into a minority so he and his homies can use our own government to beat up on us 24/7/365/300.
All I expect from Trump is a complete destruction of the Uniparty. I expect his presidency to stand as a figurative thumb in the eye of the political elites who have been trotting out candidates like McCain, Dole, Romney and a whole sordid list of losers on both sides that simply amount to no choice.
If the Europeans are nervous, we’ll so am I but I’m sick of being ignored by the people we elect and it’s way past time they understood that we vote for a reason and it’s not to be ignored.
I agree. American citizens taxed themselves to help rebuild Europe after WWII. They taxed themselves to put a Army between the Soviet Union and Europe. They paid in blood fighting Communism around the world so it could not expand.
And all that time, Europe used the money they would have needed to provide for their own defense to create a socialist utopia. A utopia build on sands that will soon be swept away with the rushing tide of Muslims overwhelming their nations and cultures.
And they are worried about Trump?
Trump may be the only man (if elected) that will come to the aid of Europe when the end is near. Hillary wont, nor will Sanders.
(Actually, it might be ironic, but Putin may be the other man that would be willing to aid Europe against the invading Muslim armies, but then unlike America, once Russia moves in, they may never move out.)
And you won't ever see an article like that, because the people using words like "horrify" are operating from base emotions. They have no actual concrete facts or data to support a contention that our candidates are "horrifying," just emotion.
Personally, I like Trump's plans for NATO. He wants to update it for the modern era. What's wrong with that?
“Madness”
“America’s rabble-rouser”
Rhetorical: What do I care what euros think?!? They are currently in the process of collectively committing suicide by dhimmitude. In short, they are a great lot of fruitcakes and their opinion on anything carries less gravity that a fart.
I have one thing to say to any Europeans. Weakness invites attack and you are weak. You are now under attack, your families are being nude red and you women are being raped. Quit projecting your anger outward and blaming others, bayou did this to yourselves and only Europeans can save themselves. Read your own ancient history that hasn’t been totally corrupted by your communist overlords and you may understand what is happening to you. Americans are sick of constantly fighting for you only to hear you ungratefully b*tch about us. Man up or die slaves.
Just a bunch of woosie Europeans wringing their hands and crying in their buttermilk.
Reagan is tremendously popular in Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, etc.
“Political Science” - Randy Newman
No one likes us-I don’t know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let’s drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they’re spiteful and they’re hateful
They don’t respect us-so let’s surprise them
We’ll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia’s crowded and Europe’s too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
We’ll save Australia
Don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo
We’ll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin’, too
Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We’ll set everybody free
You’ll wear a Japanese kimono
And there’ll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let’s drop the big one now
Let’s drop the big one now
Neutered? Your spell checker just won the congeniality award! :)
There’s an ugly European, too. He lives in our basement, he whines and criticizes his enablers to prop his self-esteem. The more he depends on us the more he resents us.
“Personally, I like Trump’s plans for NATO. He wants to update it for the modern era. What’s wrong with that?”
There might be nothing wrong with that. But in my view, updating NATO should be secondary to the question of whether NATO should continue to exist at all.
The basic question is, does the US have such a vital interest in Western Europe that the American people would be willing to spend blood and treasure to defend it from any and all external enemies? If you took a vote of our electorate today, does anyone believe the answer would be Yes?
Even if the answer were Yes, who is likely to be attacking Western Europe? The attacks are going to come, most likely, from internal Islamic extremists, not external enemies. When Trump says NATO is not good at dealing with terrorists, I think he is also saying we don’t want to be involved in a European civil war. Especially not on the losing side.
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