GOP presidential candidate and “Contrarian Commentary”
columnist Andy Martin analyzes Donald Trump’s views on the future of NATO and Europe
in light of the latest Brussels
terrorist attack
News
from:
ANDY MARTIN /2016
Republican candidate for
President of the United States
“Make America
www.AndyMartin.com
www.FirstRespondersOnline.us
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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GOP
presidential candidate and “Contrarian Commentary” columnist Andy Martin says “Donald
Trump has identified a foreign policy challenge that needs a fresh approach”
Andy
says “Europe ,” i.e. the European Union, cannot survive in its current form
Andy
says nations that want a national security blanket from the United States
Andy
says NATO has achieved its original objectives and, surprisingly, those
objectives are still reasonable
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BULLETIN: Due to an unplanned
development Andy is still in his South Florida
war room, able to observe the Trump campaign and celebrate Easter with family
and friends
(Palm Beach , FL March 22, 2016 )
Dear American:
This is my seventeenth letter to the American people from
the 2016 campaign trail (# 14 is still in progress, coming in hours). Due to a
fluke, my return was delayed so I am still in Florida .
The world shudders at the latest terrorist attack in Brussels
earlier today. Civilians killed, lives disrupted, a society on the verge of
dismemberment. And yet, our political leaders know precious little about “Europe ,”
or how the European Union came into being, or what the future looks like if the
EU fails to adjust and adapt.
While I am going to gleefully support the Republican
nominee, I still keep my finger in the presidential pie until there is one, and
for a special reason. I am the only Republican presidential candidate with real
foreign policy experience. I first went to Brussels
over 50 years ago; I have edited several books on “Europe ”
and the European Union (“EU”); I speak French, and have also studied German,
Spanish and Greek. So I am conversant with European culture and politics. No other candidate has that background and
experience as a resource to draw on.
In today’s letter, Part One, I will explain how Donald Trump
and his views are going to affect the future of “Europe .”
Why the quotation marks around “Europe ?”
Because Americans usually think about going to Europe as
a trip or junior year of college abroad. We know little of the EU and its origins
or workings, little of what President Barack Obama has done to reverse seventy
years of post-World War II political stability. Europe
will always be a delightful place to visit; the political future of the
continent is less positive.
Two weeks ago a group of conservative foreign policy “experts”
attacked Donald Trump and said he was unqualified to be president (please see
link #1 below). Yesterday Trump questioned the value of NATO (North Atlantic
Treaty Organization) and our involvement in Asia (please
see link #2). Today ISIS struck again, in Brussels .
Trump’s frustrations are not new. For decades military
leaders have fretted about the imbalance in financial commitments to national
defense by the United States
as compared with Europe or Asia . As
Trump correctly claims, we spend to defend foreign nations. And we don’t always
receive a “thank you.”
Where is NATO headquartered? Brussels .
Where is the EU headquartered? Brussels .
In a city and nation that is unable to defend itself, and unwilling to make the
commitment to defend itself, serious questions are raised. The EU, moreover, is
constantly at war with U. S.
tech giants for violating EU “security” protocols. Unwittingly, the EU has
created an environment that is favorable to terrorist organizations and
operations. The attacks in Paris
and Brussels prove my point.
Trump seems to embody the aphorism “it’s better to be lucky
than be smart.” Every time he makes what appears to be an outrageous foreign
policy claim, within days his unorthodox view is vindicated by events. He
questioned NATO yesterday: today a terrorist attack on the doorstep of NATO.
Timing is everything.
So does Europe have a future? Not in
its current form. Today I discuss what Obama has done to weaken “Europe” (Obama
actually favors the concept of “Europe,” as an excuse for American abdication);
next, I will explain Trump’s impact on “Brexit,” the United Kingdom vote in
June on whether to leave the EU. Finally I will offer my own unorthodox (“contrarian”)
views on how the EU should deal with the nation of Turkey .
After America
bailed out Europe and won the war against Nazi Germany
in 1945, leaders were concerned that the United
States would recede from a leadership role
as it had previously done in 1918. In the words on one British diplomat, NATO
was created to “keep the Americans in (Europe ); to keep
the Russians out (of Europe ); and to keep the Germans
down, so that Germany
would never be able to launch a new continental war (please see link #3 below).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1989, no one believed a new Russian dictator such as Vladimir Putin could
arise. No one believed that Russia
would attack peaceful nations and attempt to redraw borders by force. And so
Americans elected the African-American flower child, Barack Obama, to dismantle
our commitment to Europe . Joseph Stalin is said to have
contemptuously asked, “How many divisions does the pope have?” Well, today, we
can ask, “How many divisions does NATO have?” The reality: close to none. NATO
is a paper tiger and Putin is aware of that fact. Europeans have lost the will
to defend themselves and Donald Trump questions whether we should shed American
blood in place of a local commitment.
Obama has withdrawn armored divisions from Europe ,
closed facilities and pursued a foreign policy that is, ironically, almost a
carbon copy of Trump’s (without any of the protests from the foreign policy
“establishment” that criticize Trump).
The result: chaos. Russian continues to be a military
threat. Radical Islam is attacking. And the EU is paralyzed. NATO? Don’t ask.
So is Trump right? Or wrong? Or, as I believe, right and wrong?
First, United States
taxpayers are not going to continue to defend Europe
while Europeans refuse to defend themselves. Trump is right. Solution: NATO
must amend the Charter to mandate a common level of defense expenditures by all
signatories. We should not promise to defend nations under Article 5 of the
NATO (Washington) Treaty that will not spend equally on their own defense. We
need to develop a financial formula that minimizes our financial outgo for
European defense while still retaining a robust presence there (Poland
is asking for more American forces).
Second, I do not believe a US
withdrawal from Europe is in our national interest. Since
our own troops are likely to fight overseas, and not at home in Ohio ,
positioning military resources overseas makes excellent sense and strategy. Trump
is therefore wrong that withdrawing troops improves our own national security. Almost
seventy years of safety and stability before Obama arrived on the scene
contradict Trump. And Obama’s (i.e. Trump’s) policy of withdrawal has failed to
meet our own national security needs. Obama is now forced to reinforce our
garrisons in Europe , the same ones he emptied out years
ago.
Third, Europe is going to have to
take terrorism and collective national security much more seriously. Trump is
right. Nations that refuse to defend themselves, and allow hostile Muslim
populations to fester in their midst, are doomed. The solutions will not be
easy, pleasant or cheap.
Finally, just as this is being written, Trump has created a
new kerfuffle today over the identities of his “foreign policy” advisors.
Surprise. Realistically, the media establishment and the foreign policy
establishment are going to make every effort to create “issues” with anything
and everything Trump says. Ironically, as an “outsider,” Trump’s “fresh start”
and “clean sheet of paper” approach to national security and international
security is essential and valuable.
While I generally support the seventy years of stability
that my family shed blood to defend, we must always be open to new ideas, new
approaches and new solutions. Trump is an unabashed nationalist. But, what have
the “internationalists” given us, other than the messed up world created by Bill
Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama?
Until Easter you can reach me in, or read me from our war
room in South Florida .
Sincerely yours,
Andy
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LINKS TO THIS STORY (cut and paste the entire link below and not
just the underlined portion):
[1]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c25b73b8-e0bb-11e5-9217-6ae3733a2cd1.html#axzz43fHZXBTK
http://warontherocks.com/2016/03/open-letter-on-donald-trump-from-gop-national-security-leaders/
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/03/lt-col-michael-waltz-trump-not-ready-to-be-president
[2]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c25b73b8-e0bb-11e5-9217-6ae3733a2cd1.html#axzz43fHZXBTK
[3]
NATO
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hastings_Ismay
New citations
after emailing:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/brussels-shows-europes-shockingly-dysfunctional-approach-to-security/2016/03/22/24af5b58-f06e-11e5-85a6-2132cf446d0a_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
ANDY MARTIN - A BRIEF BIO :
Andy Martin is a
legendary New Hampshire New York Washington USA
Andy has also been a leading corruption fighter in American
politics and courts for over forty-five years and is executive director of the
National Anti-Corruption Policy Institute. See also www.FirstRespondersOnline.us; www.AmericaisReadyforReform.com.
He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of
Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City
University of New York (LaGuardia CC, Bronx CC).
He is the author
of “Obama: The Man Behind The Mask” [www.OrangeStatePress.com] and produced the
Internet film “Obama: The Hawaii’ Years” [www.BoycottHawaii.com]. Andy is the
Executive Editor and publisher of the “Internet Powerhouse,” blogging at www.contrariancommentary.wordpress.com
and www.ContrarianCommentary.com.
Andy’s family
immigrated to Manchester , New
Hampshire Merrimack River and he lives around the corner from where
he played as a small boy. He is New Hampshire
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[NOTE: We try to correct any typographical errors in our stories; find the latest version on our blogs.]
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