The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a defensive alliance of member nations in Europe and North America. It was established in 1949 in response to the Soviet Union’s expansion of influence and control over nations in Eastern Europe. Although it has always been intended to be a deterrent to aggression - first by the Soviet Union, and now by the Russian Federation - it applies to aggression by any nation against any NATO member.
Most recently, concern about Russian aggression in Ukraine has motivated Sweden and Finland to become NATO member states. In the recent past, the Baltic States and several countries in Eastern Europe (that were once under Soviet control) have joined NATO to try escape Russian domination. Since they are located close Russia, their addition to NATO has been perceived to be threatening from the Russian point of view.
During his terms as President, Donald J. Trump has been very critical of NATO. He has rightly focused on the failure of NATO member states to provide for their fair share of the burden for our mutual defense. He thinks that NATO is a “bad deal” for the United States, because the US has borne an unfair share of the load. He is correct, and we should support his efforts to motivate all NATO member states to fulfill their treaty obligations in good faith.
However, President Trump has made some rather rash statements about NATO. He has threatened to “pull out” of NATO, or not to help defend NATO member states who have not spent the required amount of their GDP on defense, which they are obligated to by the NATO Treaty. He may have said those things because he felt that milder requests made in the past were disregarded. To put it directly, when people don’t pay attention, he slaps them around a bit. It is debatable whether this tactic produces good results … or just causes hard feelings. Currently, most NATO members have increased their defense spending, but that may be a response to the threat posed by recent Russian aggression in Ukraine; as much as a response to the President’s threats.
For clarity, we should understand that NATO is a treaty. A treaty has the effect of law. The President does not have the authority to withdraw the United States from a treaty without the approval of Congress. It is not an agreement like the Iran Nuclear Agreement. The NATO treaty obligates the United States to help defend any other member state if they are attacked. As Commander in Chief, President Trump must, by treaty requirement, commit US military forces to fulfill our treaty obligation. He can, however, decide the level of our military response.
Recently, our NATO allies have not supported the military actions of the United States, during Operation Epic Fury. Their governments have concluded the Article 5 provisions of the NATO Treaty do not apply because the United States has not been directly attacked by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and because our military actions are illegal under international law. They have cited Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which prohibits member nations from using force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another nation state, unless it is in response to an attack. [1] The Trump Administration has held that the USA and other countries have been repeatedly attacked by Iran and its proxy terrorist groups for years, and that Operation Epic Fury has been conducted in accordance with all applicable law. [2]
The Trump Administration has also argued that our NATO allies are morally obligated to support our military and diplomatic efforts to change the behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran because we have carried the lion’s share of the defense of Europe since the end of WW II. Although the legal arguments of some of our NATO allies may be a smoke screen to hide their reluctance to get their hands dirty, our support of their defense does not obligate them to act in violation of their conscience. Furthermore, we have also benefited from the deterrent against Russian aggression provided by NATO.
The bottom line is that the NATO Treaty, and our support of the defense of Europe, do not obligate member states to assist in what they believe are acts of aggression by other members. That is fair, and we all should accept it.
To advance the discussion a little further, however, regardless of any other legal or moral arguments - the actions of the radical, terrorist clerics and the IRGC who rule Iran have turned Iran into an international outlaw. They have made it necessary for the community of nations to take preemptive and preventive action to defend the peace and safety of their people. Once again, the United States of America has stepped forward, in equal partnership with Israel, to do the heavy lifting to get it done. Once again, we are being condemned for doing it. When you are a pioneer, you must take a lot of arrows in the back.
We still need the deterrent that NATO provides against Russian aggression. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
God bless President Trump
for his vision and courage. God bless
Israel. God bless the USA.
