A retired admiral who commanded NATO forces in Europe and has been mentioned as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton fired back at Donald Trump’s comments on Thursday, saying the alliance is important not just because of the military power it brings, but also because of the ethical way it approaches military operations in an increasingly turbulent world.
Retired Adm. James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander of NATO, was responding to Trump’s comments to the New York Times Wednesday that as president, he may not come to the aid of NATO allies who were under attack if they had not met their commitment to spend two percent of gross domestic product on defense.
But the former four-star says Trump is being short-sighted by not appreciating what value a commitment to NATO brings to the U.S.
“The heart of NATO’s importance to the U.S. is actually not what it can do, as powerful and impressive as its operational reach given the scope of its combat capabilities. The real importance of NATO is how it conducts its operations, and the value-based approach that underpins its origins and is reflected in its conduct today,” Stavridis writes in a Time op-ed.
The ability of NATO to endure, Stavridis says, comes from its commitment to shared values, not just shared interests, which is even more important in a world that is becoming more interconnected. But that bond breaks when members can’t count on other allies staying true to their word.
“This is only possible when parties of an agreement — be they nations, commercial companies, agencies of government or individuals — fully trust in the ethics and probity of the other parties,” Stavridis writes.
While NATO may not be perfect, Stavridis calls trying to disconnect from the alliance a “misguided strategy.”
Article 5 of NATO requires that allies respond to an attack on one country as if it were an attack on all countries. Stavridis notes that it was activated only once, by the U.S. after 9/11, and that allies unquestioningly came to America’s aid both by providing relief to Americans involved in the attacks and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. troops on battlefields in Afghanistan.
“Every one of the NATO member states joined the coalition in Afghanistan, and virtually all remain there with the U.S. today in the conduct of the ongoing training mission supporting the Afghan security forces,” he wrote.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, also condemned Trump’s remarks by noting that NATO allies responded when the U.S. was in crisis on 9/11.
“Trump has often spoken of the impact that 9/11 had on New York, his hometown,” Schiff said in a statement. “Even the tiny Baltic States, who suffered under Soviet rule for decades and are now threatened by Putin, have contributed to the Afghan mission, yet Trump dismisses them out of hand and seems to invite Putin to turn his attentions to them.
“Donald Trump has made more than his fair share of dangerous and irresponsible comments over the course of this campaign, but his glib rejection of 70 years of coordination with our NATO allies is perhaps the most dangerous,” Schiff later said.
