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Why Donald Trump Is Wrong About NATO

NATO member flags wave at the entrance of NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Despite Donald Trump's assertion that NATO should be diminished, recent terrorist attacks provide a reason for NATO to be even more active in the War on Terror. (Department of Defense/Sipa USA/Newscom)

War On Terror: With impeccable bad timing, Donald Trump called for shrinking the U.S. role in NATO just a day before the Brussels terrorist attacks. In fact, the attacks underscore how important NATO is.

Speaking to the Washington Post, Trump didn’t mince words about NATO: “We certainly can’t afford to do this anymore,” he said. “NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, we’re protecting Europe with NATO, but we’re spending a lot of money.”

Presidential candidate Ted Cruz fired back: “It is striking that the day after Donald Trump called for weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, the subject of a radical Islamic attack.”

On this, we side with Cruz. And in a positive sign, Europeans seem to agree.

“We are at war,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday. “Over the past few months in Europe, we have endured several acts of war.”

He’s right. These are acts of war, with civilians as the target. After two attacks on Paris, another on San Bernardino and now Brussels, in the last 13 months, can anyone deny the growing threat to the West?

Imagine for a moment that another nation’s airplanes flew over our cities every two or three months, killing dozens or even hundreds. Would we tolerate it? Preach patience? Do nothing? Sing Kumbaya?

Of course not. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks. If, as Valls and others suggest, we are at war, it should be more than just rhetoric.

So why isn’t our common defense system, NATO, now in war mode? After all, the Brussels attacks took place just miles from NATO headquarters. As events of recent months show, NATO now faces a new threat in addition to Russia’s expansionism: Radical Islam.

That threat is embodied in the still-growing Islamic State and in the swarms of radicalized Muslim migrants ISIS is sending from the Mideast and North Africa to illegally enter the West and commit terrorist mayhem.
Contrary to what Trump says, we need NATO today for the destruction of radical Islam, which poses a real threat to the very existence of the West and its culture.

All 28 NATO members are pledged to respond when a fellow NATO nation is attacked. After repeated attacks on NATO members, it’s time to show NATO still has teeth. If not, maybe Trump’s right: Why continue it?

With more than 3 million troops under arms, NATO remains the largest and most potent military force on Earth. While an expansionist Russia under Vladimir Putin is still a threat, the terrorist slaughter of at least 34 people in Brussels provides NATO with a new mission.

While domestic intelligence and police forces in the U.S. and Europe can and should identify and eliminate domestic threats, it’s time for Western leaders to unleash NATO to destroy the cause of it all: ISIS.