In an unprecedented display of political submission, the NATO leadership is rushing to appease Donald Trump, and just hours before the start of the Alliance's Summit, it makes an admission that irreparably exposes European governments.
Against the backdrop of the NATO Summit, the Secretary General of the Alliance, Mark Rutte, proceeded to a shocking confession and openly admitted that Europe was transformed into a vast US military platform for the bombings against Iran. While European leaders publicly declared that they were keeping their distance from the flare-up in the Middle East, behind closed doors they provided full logistical and military cover for the American operation Epic Fury.
"Trump was right" about everything
"The American president was right. He was right when he was pressuring his NATO allies to increase defense spending, he was right when he was urging them to modernize their militaries, and he was right to launch a war against Iran," Rutte told Politico. "I just like the guy. I think what he is doing for NATO is great," he stated.
This is an... ardent support of the policies of the American president, which have at times infuriated other members of the alliance, many of whom question Trump's commitment to the alliance following his threats to annex Greenland, his questioning of the NATO Article 5 collective defense commitment, his attacks against other leaders, his decision to withdraw part of the US troops from Germany, and the ongoing broader review of the American military presence in Europe by the Pentagon.
"President Trump is essentially achieving what American presidents, since the era of Eisenhower, have been trying to achieve, namely to equalize defense spending between the US and Europe," Rutte added.
Defense spending
The head of NATO stated that this year's Summit will be "transformational" for the alliance and will also channel billions more into critical defense programs. The numbers, so far, are massive. According to the publication, during the last two years, the 31 members of NATO (excluding the US) have committed 250 billion dollars to new programs and defense investments, with a series of new agreements and commitments expected over the next two days.
All this comes against the backdrop of Trump's demands toward the allies to spend and do more, as Washington shifts toward domestic security and, to a lesser extent, toward the Pacific region. Rutte insisted that European countries are doing much more to strengthen their military capabilities, so as to shoulder a fairer share for the defense of the continent. "We need to build a NATO that is sustainable and, therefore, does not depend excessively on the US, as a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO, where Europeans and Canadians truly step forward," the NATO leader stated.
The war in Iran
Meanwhile, Trump has expressed his dissatisfaction with the reluctance of many European allies to help in the war he launched against Iran. "They let us down," Trump stated last month, when Rutte met him in the Oval Office. "We did not need help in this at all. We destroyed [Iran] literally in the first week, but it would be nice if they said: 'We would like to help'."
However, Rutte highlighted once again that European countries were of critical importance for the bombing campaign against Iran. "The US probably could not have carried out operation Epic Fury without using Europe as a large power projection platform," he said, noting that Romania closed its largest commercial airport to allow American aircraft to take off and land, and that up to 5,000 aircraft took off from European airports this winter, despite Trump's continuous insistence that the allies did not help.
A senior White House official stated that Trump is coming to Ankara with "a combination of optimism, but also a degree of agitation regarding Iran. It is both. I know this may sound like an oxymoron, but there is hope that, even after what happened with Iran, maybe there is a way forward."
However, Rutte insisted that, despite the differences, the alliance remains united with the US as a full partner. "I believe that the president is right that there are individual cases where he is rightly disappointed, but when one looks at the bigger picture of what Europeans are doing, it is massive," he stated, adding: "This is proof that European nations have been truly extraordinarily helpful, based on all these bilateral agreements, to make operation Epic Fury possible."
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