Trump Must Put Americans Before Foreign ‘Partners’, by Doug Bandow

America’s “partnerships” are code for America picks up the bill. From Doug Bandow at theamericanconservative.com:

To keep the U.S. safe and prosperous, the defense gravy train must end.

In a world long used to mulcting Uncle Sam of cash and soldiers in the name of solidarity and security, the wait for Donald Trump to return to the Oval Office is proving painful for Washington’s supposed “allies” and “partners.” They long ago learned the art of the deal with the U.S., claiming incapacity and vulnerability while begging for American alms.

Hence decades of security guarantees, loans and grants, weapons shipments, and troop deployments. Uncle Sam demanded in return only constant praise and sycophancy, and especially the admission that America was the essential power without which the free world could not operate, let alone survive. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, Washington officials celebrated every alliance expansion, no matter how meaningless or irrelevant the new member. Such has been NATO’s steady expansion toward Russia, adding, for instance, the movie-set nation of Montenegro and yet another Russian neighbor, Finland, neither of which matter one whit for U.S. security.

America’s defense dependents, desperate to preserve their place on Washington’s defense dole, began preparing early as President Joe Biden’s popularity ratings dipped. They schemed with his administration to lock in subsidies and preferences for the supposedly hapless and helpless abroad. This effort accelerated after the president’s growing mental incapacity became impossible to hide. Vice President Kamala Harris’s “joyful” appointment as the Democratic presidential nominee briefly lifted spirits overseas, especially in Asia and Europe, since there is nothing that America’s faux friends would like more than a compliant and docile ignoramus as president. Then, alas, came November 5. 

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