POTUS Election thread

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Threatening to wad it up and throw it away might work for his business deals, but international relations is a whole different ballgame that Trump doesnt have a clue what hes talking about. In the current NATO mission in Afghanistan, almost half of the forces in theater are European NATO allies or partner nations. The other half are US forces. NATO allies have lost over 1100 personnel in Afghanistan, with the Danes suffering the highest percentage of casualties of any ally, even the US. In Syria and Iraq, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom (and soon the Czechs) are flying anti-ISIS missions. On the ground with advisers & trainers in Iraq preparing Iraqi & Kurdish forces, you have Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and soon the Czechs as well. In the Libyan operation, it was NATO allies who were leading, not the US. Last I recall, the Danish actually flew more missions and dropped more ordnance than the US did. Yes, the US takes the lead in most of the NATO missions because we have the biggest military by far. But thinking that NATO allies dont do their part is just false.

Since 2014, NATO allies have agreed to halt defense cuts and now many NATO allies are in the process of rebuilding their defense budgets and forces, even the Germans (though apparently the Dutch have a ways to go). NATO is probably the most successful military alliance in history because there wasnt doubt about if allies would come to the aid of others allies when attacked. Threatening to walk because you dont get everything you want is not a recipe for a healthy alliance. Trump has said similar things about leaving the WTO which would also be disastrous.

Preacher, meet choir.


Trump, as most folks with business backgrounds, think that diplomacy as practiced is a silly waste of time and think they CAN do better deals by using the strategies known and familiar to them.

I said that was WHAT Trump was doing, not that it was a good idea.