'Are we going to start World War III over Ukraine?'
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
US presidential candidate Donald Trump keeps committing veritable political suicide.
His "politically incorrect" broadsides on issues like immigration, race, abortion, and foreign relations have all failed to weaken his support with Republican voters. Quite the opposite.
Now The Donald is lambasting NATO as "obsolete" and attacking Europe's handling of the Ukraine crisis. In his speech to an audience in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on April 2nd, he again doubled down:
Trump questioned why the US needs to take on the primary financial burden for defending Europe, paying 73% of NATO expenses while other members fail to meet even their 2% of GDP obligations. He also questioned whether Ukraine was really vital to American interests, and whether the country was worth fighting World War III with Russia over.
But it is precisely the US which does need and want NATO, not Europe. If European countries really did have to pay "their fair share," they'd probably quickly lose interest in promoting the Russian bogeyman and in the "security" offered by subordinating Europe's sovereignty and interests to Washington's.
Mr. Trump expressed his sentiments even more stridently at a speech in Racine:
Mr. Trump's latest remarks beg the question whether he truly doesn't understand the nature of the American empire, of the military-industrial-financial complex which depends on conflict and US military power to both uphold the position of the US and the dollar-based global financial system, or if he is just simplifying a much more complex issue in a way that is both on the edge of what is acceptable to the political establishment and readily understandable to voters - what I believe is his core strength.
Only time will tell.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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