Be Warned, Donald Trump: Ghosts Are Everywhere

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http://billmoyers.com/story/be-warned-donald-trump-ghosts-are-everywhere/


Be Warned, Donald Trump: Ghosts Are Everywhere

Harry Truman understood the importance of allies in Europe. President Trump does not.

By Michael Winship | June 1, 2017

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But Donald Trump has essentially told our NATO allies to go to hell. With an appalling lack of historical perspective, courtesy or just plain common sense, he went out of his way to insult our friends. At the NATO summit in Brussels, he suggested that the majority of its members were, in the words of the Associated Press, “freeloaders not paying their share for military protection,” a charge that is misleading and only slightly accurate (earning him Four Pinocchios from Washington Post Fact Checker Glenn Kessler, an honor reserved for “whoppers” of lies).

Further, in his official remarks, although he said he no longer believed NATO to be “obsolete,” President Trump failed to mention Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, the linchpin of the agreement, guaranteeing that all members will come to the aid of other members in the event of an attack. That he did so at the dedication of a 9/11 memorial at NATO’s new headquarters, a monument built to commemorate how allies rushed to our side in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks — the only time Article 5 has ever been officially invoked — was an egregious slap in the face.

The press had been told by the White House that Trump would reaffirm Article 5, as every president, Republican or Democrat, has done since Truman, but he did not do so in his speech. Constanze Stelzenmüller, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote:


“For Trump to refuse to do so is a devastating blow to the alliance’s credibility, at a time when it is surrounded by threats. It increases the risk of a Russian strategic miscalculation, putting American and European soldiers’ lives at risk…

“It’s duly noted that the president seems far more comfortable with autocrats than with his Western, democratically elected peers. Equivocations about US support for Russia sanctions don’t help.”



As Stelzenmüller suggests, Trump’s belligerent “America First,” nativist, bullying stance was part of a pattern during his recent trip abroad, as he basked in praise from the Saudis and Israelis but berated his western partners in democracy. Little wonder that German chancellor Angela Merkel told a rally, “The times when we could fully rely on others are to some extent over — I experienced that in the last few days.” Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords on Thursday was just one more example of short-sighted nationalism.

There may still be ghosts of former presidents prowling the White House but across Europe there roam phantoms of war and genocide. If we continue to pursue a policy of isolation and disregard, those ghosts again could thunder back to life. There will be a price to pay. Trump’s predecessors, Truman especially, understood that oceans and distance no longer protect us from terror and misfortune. Does he?