Why We Need To Get Out of NATO
President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth have recently been critical of NATO, calling for the European NATO countries to pay for their own defense. This is all to the good, though it does not go far enough. As the great Dr. Ron Paul has pointed out, “We also need a change in policy. Americans are beginning to understand the economic costs of maintaining a global military empire. US taxpayers are forced to cover more than half of the entire NATO budget while European countries rattle sabers at Russia and threaten war. If Europe feels so threatened by Russia, why don’t they cover the costs of their own defense? Why do poor Americans have to pay for the defense of rich Europeans? Haven’t we had enough of this? I very much hope that President Trump follows through with his plan to drastically reduce our bloated military budget. We can start by closing the hundreds of military bases overseas, bringing back our troops from foreign countries, and eliminating our massive commitments to NATO and other international organizations. We will be richer, safer, and happier.”
We should exit NATO entirely and we should never have started this nefarious and ill-considered organization. NATO was founded in 1949 and originally consisted of twelve member states, and it has now expanded to 32 nations. It was intended as a way to prosecute the Cold War with Soviet Russia, which would be deterred from invading Western Europe, it was claimed, by the presence of NATO armed forces and the possibility of nuclear war, should a Soviet invasion take place. The NATO signatories are committed to come to each other’s defense in case of invasion.
There was no need for this. As David Stockman points out, the Soviets, exhausted from the great losses incurred during World War II, were in no position to invade Western Europe, and that continues to be the case today, despite the anguished fears of such an invasion expressed by skittish European political figures. “To be sure, Stalin was among the most wretched, evil rulers ever to oppress a decent-sized chunk of mankind and would have remained a blight on his own countrymen and ogre before the world during the remaining six years of his despicable life. But he was no threat to the American homeland as the now open archives of the old Soviet Union prove in spades.”
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
