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Europe
NATO experiencing 'brain death', France's Macron says
2019-11-08
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - France’s president warned fellow European countries on Thursday that NATO was dying, citing a lack of coordination and U.S. unpredictability under President Donald Trump, comments quickly rejected as "drastic" by the German chancellor.

In an interview with British weekly The Economist, Emmanuel Macron expressed doubt about U.S.-led NATO’s security maxim that an attack on one ally is an attack on all, which has underpinned transatlantic ties since the alliance’s 1949 foundation.

"What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO," Macron said. Asked whether he still believed in the Article Five collective defense guarantee of NATO’s treaty, Macron answered: "I don’t know," although he said the United States would remain an ally.

Macron has said there is a lack of strategic coordination between European allies on the one hand and the United States and Turkey, with NATO’s second largest military, on the other.

Related: AP - Pompeo stresses NATO’s importance in Germany visit
Posted by:Besoeker

#12  That was UNHELPFUL for Herb's Macros and memes.
Posted by: Frank G   2019-11-08 21:51  

#11  Gee, Herb they found a lot of chemical weapons that for some reason hadn't been destroyed in the intervening years since the first Gulf War. Them's WMDs.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-11-08 19:40  

#10  Chiraq wasn't wrong. Invasion of Iraq was based on a lie that WMD existed. France was right to sit it out.
Posted by: Herb McCoy    2019-11-08 18:39  

#9  Remember Jacques Chirac's temper tantrum about the East European's supporting the USA in GW1:
[CNN.com]Chirac said: "These countries have been not very well behaved and rather reckless of the danger of aligning themselves too rapidly with the American position."

"It is not really responsible behavior. It is not well brought-up behavior. They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."

"I felt they acted frivolously because entry into the European Union implies a minimum of understanding for the others," Chirac said.

Chirac called the letters "infantile" and "dangerous," adding: "They missed a great opportunity to shut up."

European leaders get upset when peasants and colonials, but I repeat myself, talk back to their betters. Both in the past and the present.
Posted by: magpie   2019-11-08 10:59  

#8  Y'know, y'all voted to become via Nordstream to be a life support system for Vladimir's penis...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2019-11-08 10:50  

#7  It's been going on since France rejoined NATO.
Posted by: Thamble Omins9157   2019-11-08 10:15  

#6  But why? European industry is competing with American industry. How would recommitting to NATO benefit the US? IMO this only benefits Europe, not the US. People say "oh no, the US is not the world leader anymore, they cannot be relied upon". Quite frankly as an American I'm glad this is happening. I'm tired of trillions of tax dollars on nation rebuilding, endless ME wars/Proxy wars. The US is now the worlds largest Oil producer. The US also has Mexico and Canada, two friendly neighbors to buy energy from as well. The smartest thing to do is get out of the ME, since we won't need Arabian Oil anymore. Also pull forces out of Europe, or realign them to Poland, where they actually want us there. There's no reason to have a huge Airbase in Germany if they're buying LNG from an enemy and they don't want us there anyways. Also since EU is competing with US it makes no sense to reengage Brussels. We can work better trade deals with the UK, once they leave. IMO the way things are now, there's really no financial benefit to the US when it comes to NATO and the ME anymore.

It's strange how neither the threat of Soviet annihilation nor potential Chinese autocratic hegemony gets Europe to think about upping its military defense.

No, it's when a US president says some mean things about pulling your own weight and paying your fair share. THAT'S the bridge too far.
Posted by: Herb McCoy   2019-11-08 08:52  

#5  I thought NATO was a zombie since December 26, 1991?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-11-08 08:06  

#4  It's like a cesspool. You get out of it what you put into it.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-11-08 06:51  

#3  He said "becoming brain dead", one does not become brain fart!"

Oh wait, this is NATO we're talking about...
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-11-08 06:00  

#2  Bad translation. He said, "brain fart," not "brain death."
Posted by: Lex   2019-11-08 03:55  

#1  Lack of coordination is the EUSSR vassal states problem.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2019-11-08 03:11  

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