Posted on 03/22/2016 8:08:26 AM PDT by DeathBeforeDishonor1
is slamming Republican presidential rival Donald Trump's call to rethink U.S. involvement in NATO in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels.
"It is striking that the day after Donald Trump called for America weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, the subject of a radical Islamic terrorist attack," Cruz told reporters in Washington on Tuesday.
"Donald Trump is wrong that America should withdraw from the world and abandon our allies," Cruz added. He claimed Trump's proposals to draw back from Europe would hand both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria "a major victory." Trump, in an interview Monday with The Washington Post editorial board, questioned the need for NATO, which has been a central component of Western security efforts since the Cold War.
"We certainly cant afford to do this anymore," Trump said.
"NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, were protecting Europe with NATO, but were spending a lot of money," later added.
Trump doubled down on his proposal to rethink support for NATO during an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
You are getting really silly now.
Cruz doesn’t grasp that NATO is antiquated, and never meant for defense against the whack-a-mole games of guerrilla attacks.
And your solution is?
Let putin run over western Ukraine and the baltics....?
some countries are moving right in Europe.
You dont abandon NATO while this is happening.
Sure update and reform NATO, but not abandon it.
Reform includes providing incentives for Europe to pay.
So you think we should be defending other Nations for free? Why are we the designated bearer of burdens?
Maybe the M word bothers you? Filthy lucre? A treaty implies that there is mutual gain & mutual responsibility, value is an amalgamation of money and advantage. I would leave the parties to work out the terms not armchair quarterback from here.
What suddenly makes them lousy treaties?
They are not suddenly lousy treaties. They have been lousy treaties for quite some time. They are old treaties and situations change as remarked earlier in the thread by other freepers. Not to mention we are the only ones living up to our side of the bargain.
I would not trust those other Nations to give more than lip service if we were attacked. I remember what they said after 9-11, only Israel and Australia spoke for us, even Canada had a dagger ready, France & Germany were clearly not allies.
By allowing those countries to take advantage of the NATO agreement and of the USA we have been complicit in the development of a Europe that has been over run and savaged from within. Like pampered college children, those nations that do not bear the burden for their own defense and a fair share of mutual defense $ are not disciplined by reality and form strange liberal world views that endanger them and their allies.
Ted Cruz.....read my lips.......NATO is totally useless...just like the United Nations!!! Any voter in Utah or Arizona that casts a vote for Ted Cruz is far from the sharpest knife in the drawer!!! Cruz is in full panic mode.....Loser, Mitt Romney as a backer, nutcase, Glenn Beck as a backer......ya gotta be kidding me!!! Sad!!!
GO DONALD J. TRUMP!!!
Well articulated points.
Trick is to pull back in a way that does not harm our long term interests.
We're not defending anyone, for free or otherwise. Our bases overseas are almost always rent free to the U.S. and they serve our purposes, both under treaties and otherwise.
But say Trump gets his way and forces Korea to pay the cost of our forces there. If trouble rose up somewhere and we wanted to shift the troops or the ships or the airplanes to meet then does Korea have the right to refuse to let us? Since they're paying for it and all? Wouldn't they have that right contractually?
They are not suddenly lousy treaties. They have been lousy treaties for quite some time.
The why not end them as Trump wants?
The United States spends 4.4% of its GDP on defense; Germany only 1.3%. Germany is the leading country of Europe. The front line nations of Poland and the Baltic States expend 0.8-2.0% of their respective GDPs on defense. NATO was organized to provide defense against Soviet aggression. Russia under Putin is the nearest parallel to the Soviet threat. The most recent mass terror strikes have been in Europe. The Europeans must spend more on their militaries and not rely as much on Uncle Sam.
Since WWII we have paid the bill to keep another Hitler from rising up. Now we’re still paying the bill and another Hitler, muslims, are being paid to come in. It’s time they learned a lesson and started taking care of themselves.
The concept of an “alliance” is foreign to Trump>>>>>>>>>>
Really? He became a billionaire through establishing alliances. You seem to have a vary shallow connection to the way the world works.
And you think you can redefine lend / lease history hypothetically , based on what? Ego?
Trump will be one of the greatest presidents the USA has ever had, and The People know it.
1237 baby !
NATO would make sense if Turkey wasn’t a member.
Turkey is not our friend, they support ISIS (really!), and they almost irresponsibly drew us into a catastrophic war on their behalf.
They still might do so.
The missiles are not offensive. They are a defensive system.
Reagan had intermediate missiles in the1980s in Europe. Should be self -evident.
No he didn't. The Jupiter missiles were removed from Turkey in 1963 as part of the Cuban missile crisis deal. And these were offensive missiles.
Trump does not know what the Triad is, apropos to this conversation. Maybe we just throw out the triad and spend no money on major weapon systems. Who needs the Triad?
Being silly again. We need the nuclear triad as a matter of strategic national defense.
Big difference. The Baltic countries are part of NATO. Article 5 applies.
Agreed. It is in our interests to have strong partnerships.
They way Obama has treated Great Britain is shameful. They way he treats Netanyahu is absolutely deplorable. So, what you are saying is that we should abandon our friends like Obama has worked to do.
Force them to confront the perils?
That is just irresponsible. I would never abandon my friends. Maybe you can but I would not.
Do you really believe that?
No, I did not.
I do not abandon my friends and I believe that kicking our friends or being willing to do that puts you in the same camp as Barack Obama.
Not insulting at all. You can claim to be “insulted”, but that’s just more specious drivel.
Again, you’re not being truthful and are twisting what was said into something that was not said.
Nobody is talking about abandoning anyone except you, got it?
Nope.
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