Rand op-ed: Montenegro Joining NATO Is Against U.S. Interests

[jct74]

Sen. Rand Paul: Montenegro Joining NATO Is Against U.S. Interests

Sen. Rand Paul
March 30, 2017

President Donald Trump said in his inaugural address: “We’ve defended other nation’s borders, while refusing to defend our own.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Today, the question is: Will we add yet another commitment to defend yet another foreign country?

For decades, NATO has been an organization where the U.S. disproportionately spends our blood and treasure. The other NATO countries have largely hitched a ride to the U.S. train that subsidizes their defenses and allows them to direct their revenues to domestic pursuits.

Adding a country with fewer than 2,000 soldiers to NATO is not in our self-interest. There is no national security interest that an alliance with Montenegro will advance. If we invite Montenegro into NATO, it will be a one-way street with the U.S. committing to defend yet another country.

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read more:
http://time.com/4718958/montenegro-nato-rand-paul/

[AZJoe]

"This debate today is not just about Montenegro but about NATO expansion in general. The same cheerleaders for admitting Montenegro also recklessly pushed to admit Ukraine and Georgia ...

From the very beginning, our republic was founded with a deep suspicion of entangling alliances. Our founders wanted to do everything possible to avoid the chronic wars of Europe ... The endless, meaningless wars of fratricide continued even into the 20th century. Washington wrote that “our true policy is to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.” Jefferson famously wrote, “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” ...

For 16 years the US has been at war in the Middle East. ... The vote Congress made to authorize military force against the planners and attackers of the World Trade Centers is now used to justify all military action anywhere around the world. ... to justify war around the globe in dozens of countries. It is a lie ... No active war involving the U.S. anywhere around the globe has been approved by Congress. ...

Our unrestricted, un-voted upon involvement in war everywhere informs my opposition to expanding NATO. ... Many in Congress believe that Article 5 of the NATO alliance farms out the power to declare war to an international body. ... This is the crux of the debate: Congress abdicating its role in declaring war. ...

the NATO treaty is not a blind, open-ended promise to go to war anywhere and everywhere. ..."