Things aren’t looking good for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), thanks mainly to the ridiculous antics of the European powers in it and their utter ineffectiveness as military allies of the United States, as was spotlighted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He argued that the NATO alliance system will be “re-examined” given the utter failure of European powers to be useful allies, as shown by their intransigence and ineffectiveness during the Iran conflict.
Such is what Secretary Rubio said when speaking with the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is owned by Qatar. During the interview, Secretary of State Rubio noted that he and the administration are deeply disappointed with how the Europeans have handled being asked to support America’s attempts to open the Strait of Hormuz, and noted that America would probably be better off without NATO.
Beginning, the Secretary of State noted that once the Operation Epic Fury strikes end, as the basic European response to the conflict, which has been to try to close airspace to America while refusing to deploy what few military assets they have, has been infuriating and anti-American. He said, “The president and our country will have to reexamine all of this after this operation is over.”
Continuing, Secretary Rubio argued that the basing rights guarantee American ability to reach parts of the world we otherwise would be challenged to reach, but if that is being put at risk, as is the case if European states are refusing to let us use their ports or airspace for the mission, then there is no point.
He said, beginning that part of his point, “But one of the reasons why NATO is beneficial to the United States is that it gives us basing rights for contingencies. It allows us to station troops, aircraft, and weapons in parts of the world that we wouldn’t normally have bases. And that includes in much of Europe.”
Further, the Secretary of State questioned what is in the alliance for the United States if we can’t even use the bases, saying, “And to see that in a time of need, the United States has identified a grave risk to our national security and our national interests. And we needed to conduct this operation.”
He further added, And we have countries like Spain, a NATO member that we are pledged to defend, denying us the use of their airspace and bragging about it, denying us the use of our of their bases. And there are other countries that have done that as well. And so you ask yourself, well, what is in it for the United States?”
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Secretary Rubio then noted that the alliance system will have to be re-examined because of how they have acted, saying “that’s not a very good arrangement, that’s a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States… All of it’s going to have to be re-examined.”
President Trump, for his part, has shown a similar frustration with Europe’s whining and ineffectiveness. He said, in a recent post on Truth Social, “All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”
Continuing, the president said, “You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!”