“As for Europe and the rest of the free world, the USA basically said “Don’t worry about it, WE’LL look after defense against the communist bloc, or anything else that might come up.””
That’s my point. It was idiotic of the U.S. to do that for 50+ years. Those countries should have been cut loose decades ago.
I agree with your point, but it's probably also why western europe has enjoyed it's longest period of peace.