Off Target
By Mitch Berg
Joe Doakes, formerly of Como Park, emails:
I’ve been saying the American government should put Americans first and only after all of our problems are solved, consider taking care of people in other nations. After watching the Zelensky blow-up in the Oval Office, I’ve concluded I was wrong. The American government should take care of Americans. Period.
The American government should never give war guarantees to other nations. That promotes “moral hazard” by making Europeans think they can act irresponsibly because America will step in to defend them. It’s the classic little brother picking a fight knowing big brother is right around the corner. Zelensky demanded war guarantees in the form of American troops to fight Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. Trump – to his credit – was smart enough not to give in. Hell, the only reason there was a White House ceremony at all, was so Trump could claim he wasn’t “giving” Ukraine aid for free, he was getting mineral rights in return, similar to our deals in the Middle East (we have troops stationed in Saudi Arabia to defend the royal family from enemies in Iran and uprising by their own people; in exchange, we get access to their oil, literally a blood-for-oil deal-with-the-devil made 100 years ago).
Now that the minerals deal has blown up, Trump has the perfect opportunity to walk away from defending Ukraine in specific and Europe in general. Withdraw from NATO, let Europe sort out its own problems, we have enough of our own. And not just Europe. About that Saudi deal – do we still need it? Are the terms still fair to us? I’d like DOGE to take a look at all similar arrangements, worldwide.
More than military aid, the American government should never give financial aid to other nations. Money is “fungible,” meaning the funds the foreign government would have spent taking care of its own people can now be shifted to buying a new Rolls Royce for the dictator. That’s not fair to Americans. Other nations’ own governments should take care of them. If their governments are unable to take care of their people, that’s what charity is for. Americans are the most generous, most giving people in the world, but we want to know that our charity is doing good, not simply lining pockets.
Getting government out of the war guarantee and charity businesses would not only save a ton of money, it is the first step in restoring constitutional government. Zelensky handed Trump the perfect opportunity and Elon Musk’s team is the perfect tool. Now is our chance.
Joe Doakes
I see value to alliances…
…that act with integrity, themselves, and are first and foremost in America’s best interests.
I think a NATO that acts with integrity – like, maintaining its capability to defend itself – is in America’s interest.
The NATO we have today? Not so much.
An alliance with Poland, Finland and the Baltic states? Places that care about upholding Western civilization against enemies military and social, and back it up not only with spending and hardware but national attitude? Logistics notwithstanding, that would, or could, work.
March 4th, 2025 at 7:48 am
To quote Tusk: “500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians.” Just let that sink in.
Alliance with Poland, Finland and Baltics? Ukranians hate poles as much as they do russians because “the only true Slav is a Uke slav” and poles take exception to that. Hmmm…where have I heard that before? Finns? They only exist at the pleasure of Russians. For crying out loud, entire country was built by Russian tzars, it is a miracle they kept speaking finnish and not russian. Scandinavians (you of course know that Finland is not part of Scandinavia) only tolerate Finland because Finland does not want to be part of Russia. I am not belittling Finnish people and their past fierceness on the battlefield (my grandfather survived the killing fields never to tell the tale), just Finland as a nation who have long ago lost their Western culture marbles and are all into decarbonization and getting back to stone age. You may want to review what their current national attitude is – it is not war, it is hugging and talking to trees, literally not figuratively. Estonia and Latvia are self-aggrandizing do-nothing, have-nothing non-Russians who have not been independent until USSR fell apart. They were always under somebody’s thumb. They have no military, social or business history and attitude will not put food on your table. Tallinn is the oldest walled city in Europe that survived intact, why? Because any time somebody knocked on the gates, they would be welcomed in without much of a fight. Yea, you want someone like that to watch your 6. Poland and Lithuania are the only countries that ever had military might and could back up their attitudes. Alas, Lithuania had been torn apart and is a mere shadow of itself, lumped together with sad-sack Baltic states. So yea, an alliance with Poland will keep barbarians at the gate. Oh, wait, is that the same Poland whose journalist was badgering Trump on infamous Friday about guarantees for Poland against Russian invasion? Past history does not guarantee future results and so we are back to,
“500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians.”
March 4th, 2025 at 7:51 am
I am re-posting this comment from yesterday because it fits with the column today.
Trump should withdraw aid from Ukraine and put NATO on notice that the US is done. He could do it without looking petulant. He could do it with magnanimity:
“In 1917, the United States entered World War I to defend the nations of Europe from each other. In 1941, we went back and did it again. That time, we set in place policies to prevent a third occurrence, policies which helped rebuild war torn nations while guaranteeing their security, in exchange for honoring our fallen warriors and teaching our language in their schools. We did not demand tribute, we did not impose an imperial governor, we didn’t even require fair trade but instead allowed them a trade advantage out of our generosity.
America has been acting like mother hen to Europe for 100 years. That’s insulting to them, and to us. They are proud peoples with millennia of history. They have industry and skills and the very existence of the European Union demonstrates they have the ability to work together to achieve common goals. It’s time for America to step back. It’s time for Europe to step up. It’s time Europe stood on its own.
In the coming months, I will be implementing fair trade policies including tariffs. I will ask Secretary Hegseth to prepare a plan to withdraw the American military presence from Europe as European nations ramp up their own defenses. I will ask Congress to reconsider our membership in NATO as an outdated Cold War relic. And I will direct Elon Musk and the D0GE team to examine all expenditures by every agency of the US government, overt and covert, to ensure their spending is in alignment with my US priorities.
I know I speak for all Americans when I say we wish the nations of Europe the very best as they take their rightful places on the world stage. This is not “goodbye,” it’s “welcome back.” Welcome to the status of full and equal nations. Welcome to the 21st Century. We are proud to have you with us.”
March 4th, 2025 at 8:50 am
a niggle
“Demographics of Europe
Figures for the population of Europe vary according to the particular definition of Europe’s boundaries. In 2018, Europe had a total population of over 751 million people. 448 million of them lived in the European Union and 110 million in European Russia; Russia is the most populous country in Europe. Europe’s population growth is low, and its median age high. – Wikipedia”
so 751M or 448M(Europe), want 334M(USA), to defend/pay against 146M Russians
March 4th, 2025 at 12:20 pm
Wonder how many of Germany, France and Britain’s newly minted Euro/African citizens are ready to suit up and go fight and die for money laundering, buttsex and child trafficking?
Or might they just stay behind and do their fighting in their adoptive countries once all the military age white guys are gone to do that?
March 4th, 2025 at 2:44 pm
Regarding “just take care of America”, the ugly reality is that sometimes the world doesn’t leave us alone, either to the point of interrupting the sea lanes that keep us provided with key commodities, or (Pearl Harbor, current Russian threat about Alaska) even extends to the lands where the Stars & Stripes is flown.
I understand, given the huge cost in blood and money that we have with our current defense spending, the desire to give radical isolationism a try, but that’s simply not practical in an era where it is indeed possible to ship millions of soldiers across an ocean.