N.A.T.O. Leaders Give Trump the Diplomatic Middle Finger, Saying They Will Not Get Involved in His War of Choice Against Iran

When Donald Trump joined with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu two and a half weeks ago in starting a war of choice with Iran with no clear imminent threat, he did not inform or consult his N.A.T.O. allies, many of whose leaders he has made their lives miserable since he has returned to office with assertions that he wanted Greenland, openly musing that Canada should become part of the United States, made nice with Putin over Ukraine even though Russia is supplying intelligence to Iran, imposing onerous tariffs, and whining, while forgetting the reaction to 9/11, that the collective security organization would never help America when the nation needed it.

Fast forward to the last 48 hours, and the Stable Genius who claimed victory was around the corner in his war of choice against Iran has asked N.A.T.O. to assist in securing access for shipping to traverse the predominantly Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz.

Why the United States went into a war against Iran without securing control of that vital waterway at the beginning of the combat operation should be a question coming from the lips of members of Congress now, and when they convene oversight hearings on the conduct of the war.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine warned that the Iranians would close the Strait, but Trump went ahead with the war anyway, thinking the Iranians would surrender first.

Remember this is the same Donald Trump whose great strategic thinking bankrupted a casino, mismanaged the response to the Coronavirus, and is in the process of tanking the United States economy in two separate terms.

Anyway, the response from N.A.T.O. to Trump’s request has been a resounding ‘forget it.’

Does anyone want to take a bet on how many of these leaders, after being bullied and belittled by Trump for over a year, were laughing hysterically after they ended their plea for assistance phone call from him or his designee?

According to the New York Times, Article Five of N.A.T.O., which requires assistance to a member nation if it is attacked, does not apply because the United States started the war.

Furthermore, N.A.T.O. leaders are irrate that they were not consulted or given any briefing that the United States was abandoning negogiations with Iran on their nuclear program and going to war.

In reporting from NBC, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said “This is not our war; we have not started it.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said France would “never take part in operations to open or free the Strait of Hormuz in the current context”

In a report by the Washington Post, Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand said during meetings with Turkish leaders:

“Canada was not consulted, did not participate in the military action, and has no intention of participating in the offensive military operation. Our foreign policy is focused on de-escalation and the protection of civilians and humanitarianism generally.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed to finding a path to secure the Strait but would not let Britain “be drawn into the wider war.”

Even Italy’s Prime Minister ‌Giorgia Meloni, the Western leader closest to Trump in ideology, said no thanks, saying last week that Trump’s war of choice against Iran was “an intervention in which Italy does not take part and does not intend to take part.”

Trump has gone back and forth in his response to N.A.T.O.’s diplomatic middle finger, saying comments ranging from “We don’t need them” to warning about “A very bad future” if they do not assist in securing shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Reacting to N.A.T.O. leaders’ position, Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari nailed it when explaining their reluctance to join what Mr. Trump calls his excursion, telling a reporter from Mediastouch:

“I think Donald Trump has never presented a justification to the American people about why he has embarked upon an illegal and highly reckless war that has already resulted in thousands of civilian deaths, not just in Iran, but in Lebanon, across the region, has left Americans stranded in the Middle East with no help from the State Department. He has not ruled out troops on the ground. 5,000 American troops are on their way to the Middle East.

Americans don’t want their sons and daughters dying in a war. And as it relates to NATO, he has consistently offended and betrayed our allies in NATO. And so the expectation that NATO would now support his reckless endeavors is unbelievable.”

Representative Ansari, the first Iranian American Woman to serve in Congress, also described her feelings about Trump’s botched war of choice in an interview with the New York Times.

No one wants Iran to develop nuclear weapons or their theocratic authoritarian state to remain in power.

That said, no one wants Americans, Israelis, Iranians, or anyone else in the region to lose their lives in an ill-conceived military venture that has no endgame on how the war leaves the Middle East in a better position than when combat operations began.