TPM - Marshall - "The Fix is In - NATO is Out"

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-fix-is-in-nato-is-out#more-1061519

By JOSH MARSHALL Published MAY 25, 2017 5:31 PM

We’ve had a number of disquieting reports today from President Trump’s trip to Brussels and a meeting of NATO leaders. I want to step back from the particulars and look at the larger picture.

As I noted earlier, Trump used a very high profile and public moment to chastise our NATO allies for not paying enough for their own defense and actually owing the US vast sums of money. As I explained below, this is demonstrably false, both in a general and specific sense. Beyond the inaccuracy, Trump’s comments clearly envision a transformed and debilitated NATO, one that is one half protection racket, one half high-dollar membership golf resort. You pay your dues or you’re out. It’s a service, not a commitment.

Trump also declined to pledge his support for Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the provision that commits all members states – but most importantly the US – to defend members who are attacked. Article 5 isn’t a key part of NATO. It’s the cornerstone. In many respects it is NATO.

Meanwhile, a report in der Spiegel suggests Trump viciously attacked German and its export practices in a meeting of NATO/EU leaders. His team also created confusion among their EU interlocutors by appearing not to understand that EU member states only make trade deals as a group. It’s a bit hard to decipher precisely what was being discussed here. Was this really a misunderstanding or a bullheaded effort to make a point?

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We should not lose sight of this elemental fact in what seems like a herky-jerky parade of provocations and gaffes on this latter portion of Trump’s trip. The Russia story isn’t just what happened last year. It continues.

[Voltaire2]

1. Russia's top priority is to neuter NATO.

To a certain extent we brought this on ourselves by bringing former Warsaw Pact members into NATO, ignoring prior informal commitments to not do that. We trampled on Russian national pride, and opened the door for an authoritarian demagogue like Putin to exploit those sentiments.

What was not predictable was the effective exploitation of our political system to put their stooge at the head of what is on the cusp of becoming a dysfunctional one party democratic republic. The efforts of the Koch brothers to lock in Republican control of state and federal governments has been captured by Putin. It is really a remarkable development. In retrospect the danger was obvious.