NATO- an important North Atlantic Treaty - echo from South Carolina

US involvement in NATO is still needed

NATO ships with the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea

An echo opinion published in The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston South Carolina

Analysts over the years have been on both sides of the NATO controversy. Many have questioned the financial burden NATO places on the United States. They are at the far ends of the political spectrum. Many of the most vociferous seem to be extreme isolationists, while others make arguments as fiscal conservatives.

Geopolitics, alliances and military actions can change quickly, and what seems prudent in one era might seem less so in another. 

It’s interesting at this time when Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have advocated for the U.S. to leave NATO that The Post and Courier would print a commentary by Kirkpatrick Sale. The timing is interesting because of our nation’s current political climate.

When Mr. Sale calls for leaving NATO, he cites the idea that Europe can take care of itself. So why should U.S. taxpayers feel inclined to partner with Europe in its defense? He pooh-poohs the idea that Putin, who has advocated to President Trump the idea of the U.S. leaving NATO, is no threat to the European Union. Perhaps 15 to 20 years ago that was the case, but political climates change faster than global warming.

I served in the Navy in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the Cold War and saw firsthand the value of NATO. When Russian forces were a constant threat to the stability of a divided Europe and still a communist powerhouse, our Navy stood the line with our NATO allies to make sure the Russian Bear was kept at bay.

Our alliance made sure our sea lanes and those of our allies were kept open and free from Russian domination. We stood together. As NATO members. An attack on one was an attack on all.

But those were the old days before the fall of the U.S.S.R. Those times seemed more dangerous than the decades that would follow, with Russia coming out of that dark period and withdrawing to its traditional borders as well as loosening its iron grip on satellite states, which include Crimea.

Mr. Sale seems to write off Crimea as Putin’s rightful fodder. Perhaps. But at a time when Russia is again under the grip of a strongman who garners power by seemingly rigged elections, attacks on the free press and public protest, perhaps not.

Many of us might find that it’s time to keep NATO strong. After all, Donald Trump did not invent redress of our alliances. 

In fact, each administration has had to take measure of NATO’s value to us as an instrument that helps stem the tide of imperialism.

This writer thinks it’s a bad time to take Mr. Putin’s advice on our membership in NATO. But it’s a good time to carefully question the wisdom laid out by Mr. Sale in The Post and Courier.

From John Childs, Army Drive in Goose Creek South Carolina