Originally Posted by
ORAC
That tweet
Dear President Trump:
As an experienced real estate man you understand the importance of location.
A goodly number of our NATO allies host bases (joint use, or US bases) in their countries which enables our military to carry out a variety of missions all over the world.
That's a part of the benefit of being in NATO: geographical access.
Every time one of our wounded soldiers was flown to Landstuhl, our ally hosting the base where our hospital is contributes to a part of NATO 'being there'
The largest U.S. Department of Defense hospital abroad is pausing its labor and delivery services until further notice to focus on the needs of the conflict across the Middle East.
The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, located near Ramstein Air Base in Germany, is temporarily referring some labor and delivery patients to other hospitals within the local community, hospital officials told Military Times on Thursday.
Every time one of our aircraft takes off, refuels, has maintenance done, rearms, or lands in an airbase in one of our NATO allies' countries, a small return on our larger investment is realized.
Yes, when France closes their airspace, or Spain does not support ops from bases in their territory, it's going to be frustrating.
But to declare that NATO has not been there for us is both untrue and unfair.
Being in NATO has never been about "I say jump, you ask how high" - it's been about building consensus and then embarking on a course of action together.
If one doesn't do the first part, it's not right to complain about others not directly participating (in this case in Iran) in the second part.
The nations of the Persian Gulf are trying to convince you to put American boots on the ground in Iran, for their benefit: security.
Israel is encouraging you to conduct military operations in and around Iran for their benefit: security.
None of the NATO nations are encouraging you to do that.
Who are our actual friends?