The non-American NATO contingent has proven itself a bunch of losers.
With friends like these, who needs enemies? NATO played an important role in checking the possible expansion of the Soviet Union into Western Europe. The amazing A-10 was invented to destroy Russian armor coming into West Germany during an expected massive Warsaw Pact attack. Like many things, NATO has outlived its usefulness. I scratched my head when Germany chose to buy Russian gas: why are we protecting the Germans from their energy business partners? The present war has shown the complete uselessness of the non-American component of the organization. Spain and others do not allow use of NATO bases on their territories and even prevent war-related planes from flying over their territory. The UK also wanted to prevent the US from using bases and refused to contribute to the actual war-fighting effort. Keir Starmer is desperately trying to appear relevant though your local marina has more naval firepower than does the current Royal Navy. From empire to clown car in less than 100 years.
I applaud Vice-President JD Vance and his team for negotiating directly with the Iranians for 21 hours. I’ve never negotiated that long, except with my kids. I am sure that Vance made every effort to get to an agreement that would be acceptable to his boss and the American people. Donald Trump is quite different than his immediate predecessors who put getting to an agreement over getting to an agreement that is good for the US. I knew that the negotiations were going to end in a stalemate, but don’t think that I am happy about the current outcome. We here in Israel were just getting used to doing things normally again. I went to sleep dressed for sleep and not to be out of our place in 5 minutes or less. We don’t look up into the sky to see any orange-colored projectiles flying over our heads towards the coast. Kids are supposed to go back to school and people are finally getting back to their offices. Peace feels wonderful, but the Iranians cannot give up the nuclear option. It is the one tool that would guarantee their end-of-times program. Whereas even extreme nuclear weapon countries like North Korea and Pakistan understand that one does not throw nuclear bombs around, the mullahs have no such compunction. And it is for this reason that President Trump demands that the Iranians have no enriched uranium or the means to make any more of the same. I don’t know how you stop them from getting a warhead or two from North Korea (without Chinese pressure), but one thing at a time. So, good for Vance for making a serious effort, but no surprise as Iranian intransigence and dragging-out negotiations to rearm and prepare for more fighting is standard operating procedure. What comes next?
While Israelis would hope to get back to normal life, I think that they are more interested in the destruction of Iran as a threat to the Jewish state. I went to the bank the other day and found a bunch of large inflatable toys and a big tent filled with tables and chairs. There was no explanation for the mini-playground or large dining room. Since they had these cool toys, I suggested that someone take our grandson over there to bounce around. When they arrived, the fellow in charge told them that the new items that magically appeared in the courtyard in front of the bank were for the “moofnim” (Hebrew for refugees or moved out of their homes) from the southern city of Arad. There was a direct hit of an Iranian missile a few weeks ago in the city near the Dead Sea. While no one was killed and the number of injured was relatively low, there was a lot of property damage. So those with no working roof over their heads are staying in the hotel next to the bank and the setup in the courtyard was for their benefit. The guy in charge told my sister-in-law to wait a few minutes and then our grandson was able to play and enjoy himself.
When I went by the bank, I noticed that the kids having fun seemed to all be ultraorthodox. And this state of affairs reflects a new reality in Israel. For the first few decades of the state, the ultraorthodox were primarily concentrated in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and a few other large urban centers. But as their kids married and the prices for housing in these cities went through the roof, large groups of chassidim and others began to move to smaller towns. So, in Arad, there are many families that are from the Gerrer chassidic community. Other places like Kirat Gat and Netivot also found large numbers of ultraorthodox families moving in. In order to have schools, stores, and services, there needs to be a certain critical mass of young families and in many smaller towns, such nuclei later draw others due to their having everything that people needed without resorting to traveling to the big city to get clothes or kosher meat. While I saw that they have taken down the inflatables, I don’t know that it means that the residents of Arad can go home. The same hotel held people from the Gaza periphery who no longer had homes after the October 7 attack.
The war against Iran will lead to massive changes in the world order. NATO as a functioning organization is dead. The Lilliputians who have for too long let the United States do the heavy lifting might find that they will have to field, fund, and develop their own European army. They have been blabbing on for years about doing the same, so maybe now is the time to do it. The US does not need to support this useless lot; let them worry about their own defenses. The Gulf states yap a lot but other than the UAE, they don’t seem to have the stomach to actually fight. The billions they have spent on American and European weapons did not bring the courage to actually use the same. They have learned to make their expensive fighters into drone killers but not Iranian killers. They are as terrified of their massive neighbor as they always have been. The US has shown incredible strength and agility in relentlessly attacking Iran and absorbing minimal damage and casualties. Destroying a couple of C-130s and a helicopter to rescue a downed pilot must give Russian and Chinese generals indigestion: if they were willing to destroy $200 million in resources to save one pilot, do we really want to fight them over Taiwan or the next Ukraine? Israel has also set an example in dropping 18,000 munitions in five weeks while batting down most of 650 missiles sent this way. There are two dozen dead, hundreds wounded and a lot of property damage. Israel is whacking Hezbollah and will soon have to deal again with Hamas that has used its 60-day window to say that it will not disarm. Like Iran, they too are stubborn and as President Trump said about Iran, they don’t realize that they have no cards.
Winston Churchill once said that the only thing worse than fighting with allies is fighting without them. That may have been true when allies pulled their weight. But today’s NATO members are less than useless. Stress often shows the true value of things, and the Iran War has shown NATO to be a joke. It has also shown Israel as a capable and reliable friend of the United States, whatever the Jew-hating Weirdo Right says. When will the shooting start again? I don’t know. But I still remember how to get to the bomb shelter.