July 10, 2015
NATO Needs to Invest in the Common Defense
“If the Russians sense a window of opportunity, they will use it to their advantage,” warns Lt. Gen. Riho Terras, who commands Estonia’s military. “We must make sure there’s no room for miscalculation.” Regrettably, many of NATO’s political leaders -- and the populations that keep them in office -- are widening the window of miscalculation and sending Moscow the very worst signal at the very worst time.
According to a recent Pew survey, there’s no majority support in Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, France or Poland for defending a fellow NATO ally from Russian attack. As if to answer their wayward publics, NATO officials turned to Twitter to declare: “NATO commitment to Article 5 is rock solid… #AlliedStrong.”
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is NATO’s all-for-one collective defense clause, declaring that “an armed attack” against any member of the alliance “in Europe or North...(Read Full Article)