Daily Beast Reporter Explains Why Trump And Cruz Horrify Most Europeans

Interesting. Thanks for the reply.

Yes, and those are wonderful countries to visit!

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.

Part of the problem with U.S. foreign policy over the last eight years is that it has been in the keeping of people who do have only half a brain. The result you see before you.

I am a bit mystified at the assertion that NATO somehow has served as a brake on post-Soviet Russian ambition. Has it really? Where? In fact, NATO was a terrific idea in the bipolar world of the Cold War, where the group of smaller nations that was Europe could contribute what they could and benefit from economies of scale and the backing of the U.S. economy and military. But Europe isn't like that now. Its governing structures in Brussels are making a determined effort to erase the idea of small independent nations with their own economies and military structures, but Brussels has not managed to design, much less implement, a satisfactory replacement. If truly it wants NATO then it had better start contributing, but I do not think it truly does. It wants NATO for free, made up of someone else's military members. Nice arrangement if you can manage it.

The bottom line is no mystery to anyone with, as the author says, "half a brain". It is that if there is going to be an EU, they can come up with their own collective security arrangements, of Europe, for Europe, and by Europe. Nothing else makes sense.

And this business that the U.S. must provide significant military force but abstain from using it for fear of "blowback" is self-contradictory and ridiculous. A country that has a military it must never use will inevitably cut that military back to uselessness - this is precisely what Europe has done and is the reason we're even having this conversation. Neither Trump nor Cruz is out of line for demanding a reconsideration. It should have been done twenty years ago.

I would still defend the Visegrad Countries, who are still defending European culture.

Went there last year, and would love to go back again.

I post mainly through my iPhone with all the problems that causes, sorry unfortunately when I sit in front of a real computer I have to work in the iPhone is for my free time

I can’t tell you how many times I cringe when I see some older posts with typos

I don’t think most Europeans even know who Cruz is. Trump is more known for his celeberty status.