Somewhere along the line NATO became a big problem for the US. It had to do with a shift of money to Europe, and the US Congress taking bribes from, and listening to the lies from, Europe... to keep it going on this way. But not all the people in Congress are accepting these bribes. And a few of them have waked up. Some of them truly want to bring the money home, and keep it here.
NATO Is a Menace, Not a Benefit, to America
https://www.activistpost.com/nato-is-a-menace-not-a-benefit-to-america/Indeed, the alliance has been the most important feature of Washington's overall strategy of global primacy. America's political and policy elites have embraced two key assumptions and continue to do so. One is that NATO is essential to the peace and security of the entire transatlantic region and will remain so for the indefinite future. The other sacred assumption is that the alliance is highly beneficial to America's own core security and economic interests.
Whatever validity those assumptions may have had at one time, they are dangerously obsolete today. The toxic, militaristic views toward Russia that too many European leaders are adopting have made NATO into a snare that could entangle the United States in a large-scale war with ominous nuclear implications. It is urgent for the Trump administration and sensible proponents of a U.S. foreign policy based on realism and restraint to eliminate such a risky and unnecessary situation.
Throughout the Cold War and its immediate aftermath, NATO's European members followed Washington's policy lead on important issues with little dissent or resistance. That situation is no longer true. The governments and populations in the alliance's East European members (the countries that the Kremlin held in bondage during the Cold War but that eagerly joined NATO once the Soviet Union collapsed) have adopted an especially aggressive, uncompromising stance toward Russia as the USSR's successor. They have lobbied with special fervor in favor of admitting Ukraine to NATO, despite Moscow's repeated warnings over the past two decades that such a step would constitute an intolerable provocation. The East European states also have been avid supporters of the proxy war that NATO has waged against Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Their toxic hostility toward Russia has inexorably made inroads even among the previously more restrained, sensible members of the alliance. With a few partial exceptions, such as Hungary and Slovakia, NATO governments now push for unrealistic, very risky policies with respect to the Ukraine-Russia war. Washington's volatile, ever-changing policy under President Donald Trump regarding that armed conflict has not helped matters.
The Trump administration's latest approach has been to try to inject some badly needed realism into the position that Ukraine and its NATO supporters pursue. Realities on the battlefield confirm that Russia is winning, albeit slowly and at considerable cost, the bloody war against its neighbor. Moscow's forces are gradually expanding the amount of territory they control. Kyiv's propaganda campaign to portray Ukraine as a stalwart democracy and a vital symbol of resistance to an authoritarian Russia is collapsing as well. Corruption scandals now plague the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky, as does growing evidence of his regime's authoritarianism. Proponents of NATO's continuing military intervention now seek to downplay the once-dominant "moral case" for the alliance's involvement and try to stress Ukraine's alleged strategic importance to both the United States and its allies.
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Trump has more-or-less drifted away from NATO. Retired Col. Douglas Macgregor says Trump should have taken the NATO-bull by the horns and stopped them, long ago. But it seems that the European NATO partners (backed by the US DoD) wants to keep pushing Eastward toward Russia, the exact thing that Russia is against.
Note that even though China is supplying Russia with a lot of electronics, Russia is supplying China with Russian war experiences in Ukraine. As Russia and China supply each other, they unite in ways that make them a force against which European NATO cannot stand.
Seems that the US recognizes this Russia/China alliance danger, and is working to unite with both countries in trade agreements with the US that leave European NATO out.
Prepare For Coming World War, NATO Chief Says
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/prepare-coming-world-war-nato-chief-saysIt in the "keynote speech" he chastized those alliance partners who don't feel the urgency of the 'Russian threat' to Europe. "We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent," he said. "Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."
"Conflict is at our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. And we must be prepared," he added while warning of the next world war.
He further asserted that Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years, at a moment the Ukraine war shows no signs of stopping. Rutte argued that more than just higher spending thresholds should be implemented, and he urged that alliance members must shift to a "wartime mindset".
"This is not the time for self-congratulation," Rutte continued. "I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."
"Putin is paying for his pride with the blood of his own people," Rutte elsewhere stated. "And if he is prepared to sacrifice ordinary Russians in this way, what is he prepared to do to us?"
Of course, none of this acknowledged what from Moscow's point of view are the root causes of the war, especially the issue of constant NATO expansion.Rutte is also hyping a coming 'world war' even while European leaders by and large have rejected the Trump-proposed peace plan, given they find the prospect of territorial concessions in Donbas and Crimea to be intolerable. It seems the hawks are still in control of Europe.
Another interesting moment was the NATO chief placing a lot of blame on China. He alleged that Moscow would not be able to execute the war without help from Beijing.
"China is Russia's lifeline," he alleged. "Without China's support, Russia could not continue to wage this war. About 80 percent of critical electronic components in Russian drones and other systems are made in China. So, when civilians die in Kyiv or Kharkiv, Chinese technology is often inside the weapons that kill them."
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