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Old 12-03-2019, 07:04 PM   #89
detbuch
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,688
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete F. View Post
Your belief, like Floridamans that we are better off alone against the world is foolish.

It is foolish to believe that there is this whole world out there against us. Or that what there is of such a world is unified within itself. There have always been disagreements between members in the alliance. Trump has done nothing to weaken that alliance. By demanding that the members pull their own weight, he may be strengthening it.

The John Birch Society went out in the 70s, perhaps you can revive it, I hope not.

I'm not interested, thanks for mentioning it though.

We cannot singlehandedly force anyone to do anything. Floridaman is currently claiming that we might not honor NATO treaties, specifically article 5. We are the only ones who have ever called for help based on that and received it and more.
Next time will likely be different.
Has Trump made a current claim about article 5. In 2017 he made a strong commitment to it in his Poland speech. He is known to give seemingly different (at least in the brains of his critics)"signals" for strategic purposes. He has criticized NATO's effectiveness and its members lack of commitment to paying their share, but I don't think he has ever specifically said that we would not commit to article 5.
If he has, as you say, "currently" that we would not honor it, when was that? "Might not" does not carry much weight since he, as I said, gives off different signals for strategic (bluffs to get desired action) reasons.
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