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U.S. Officials Scrambled to Shield NATO From Trump

Rogue Valley

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U.S. Officials Scrambled Behind the Scenes to Shield NATO Deal From Trump

us-officials-scrambled-behind-the-scenes-to-shield-nato-deal-from-trump-new-york-times.jpg


8/9/18
WASHINGTON — Senior American national security officials, seeking to prevent President Trump from upending a formal policy agreement at last month’s NATO meeting, pushed the military alliance’s ambassadors to complete it before the forum even began. The work to preserve the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreement, which is usually subject to intense 11th-hour negotiations, came just weeks after Mr. Trump refused to sign off on a communiqué from the June meeting of the Group of 7 in Canada. The rushed machinations to get the policy done, as demanded by John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, have not been previously reported. Described by European diplomats and American officials, the efforts are a sign of the lengths to which the president’s top advisers will go to protect a key and longstanding international alliance from Mr. Trump’s unpredictable antipathy. Allied ambassadors said the American officials’ plan worked — to a degree. “The president’s national security team did a good job of salvaging a minimally successful outcome to the NATO summit,” said James G. Stavridis, a retired four-star admiral who also once served as the supreme allied commander for Europe. But, he added, “it is unfortunate that the president’s apparent personal animus continues to create friction in an alliance that has stood the test of time.”

NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, reinforced Mr. Bolton’s directive during a gathering of the ambassadors on July 4. The usual infighting over the summit agreement, he said, had to be dropped. He asked the delegations to finish their work by July 6 at 10 p.m. Brussels time. Two senior European officials said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis were also keen to avoid another confrontation similar to the G-7, and the NATO declaration was completed days before leaders set foot in Brussels. It achieved several goals critical to NATO officials. Against Russian objections, the military alliance would formally invite Macedonia to join. It would establish an Atlantic Command post, hosted by the United States in Norfolk, Va., to coordinate a swift alliance response in the event of, for instance, a war in Europe between Russia and NATO allies. And, most important, allies pledged to build up their militaries and provide 30 mechanized battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 combat vessels, all ready to use in 30 days or less, by 2020 — a force to quickly respond to any attack on an alliance member. Jamie Shea, a NATO deputy assistant secretary general, called the declaration “the most substantive” agreement that the alliance had put out in years. But its success, according to the American and European officials, lies in the feverish work before the summit meeting to keep it away from Mr. Trump.

Ye Gods. Credit to Bolton, Pompeo, and Mattis for working around their political, emotional, and Russia-loving albatross ..... Donald Trump.
 
U.S. Officials Scrambled Behind the Scenes to Shield NATO Deal From Trump

us-officials-scrambled-behind-the-scenes-to-shield-nato-deal-from-trump-new-york-times.jpg




Ye Gods. Credit to Bolton, Pompeo, and Mattis for working around their political, emotional, and Russia-loving albatross ..... Donald Trump.

Strange, I don't see a single "open source" for this story. Just the typical "according to five senior American and European officials familiar with the discussions who described them on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the White House." :unsure13:

The only person named was an "ex" NATO Supreme Allied Commander (back during 2009 to 2013) who was offering an opinion on the story.

Now anything is possible; but before I buy this story wholesale, get back to me when the NYT offers some verifiable sources. :coffeepap:
 
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Strange, I don't see a single "open source" for this story. Just the typical "according to five senior American and European officials familiar with the discussions who described them on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the White House." :unsure13:

The only person named was an "ex" NATO Supreme Allied Commander (back during 2009 to 2013) who was offering an opinion on the story.

Now anything is possible; but before I buy this story wholesale, get back to me when the NYT offers some verifiable sources. :coffeepap:

I agree.

Furthermore, I find it highly unlikely that Bolton and Pompeii would do anything without Trump's expressed concurrence and approval.

This looks like fake news to me.
 
strange to think that a 69 year old institution of allies is in danger because of the delusions of of a 72 year old child ........

unprecedented ..........

Trump needs to be run out of DC and into a prison cell .........
 
Strange, I don't see a single "open source" for this story. Just the typical "according to five senior American and European officials familiar with the discussions who described them on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the White House." :unsure13:

The only person named was an "ex" NATO Supreme Allied Commander (back during 2009 to 2013) who was offering an opinion on the story.

Now anything is possible; but before I buy this story wholesale, get back to me when the NYT offers some verifiable sources.

Strange, I see the predictably dishonest pretense that sources that are not publicly identified are to be ignored. Actually, it's not strange. It's been sadly common for people to make a big display of embracing this pretense.

Yet, anonymous sources weren't a problem until Trump told a certain contingent it was a problem. That's not strange either.

:coffeepap:



I wish you hadn't made such a dishonest and typically/pointlessly contrarian post. If all sources were publicly identified, newspapers wouldn't have sources. We wouldn't find out about government corruption. The Watergate cover-up would have worked.
 
Michael Bolton and Mike Pompeo are the rational people in the room.

That is how low we have fallen.
 
Strange, I see the predictably dishonest pretense that sources that are not publicly identified are to be ignored. Actually, it's not strange. It's been sadly common for people to make a big display of embracing this pretense.

Yet, anonymous sources weren't a problem until Trump told a certain contingent it was a problem. That's not strange either.

I wish you hadn't made such a dishonest and typically/pointlessly contrarian post. If all sources were publicly identified, newspapers wouldn't have sources. We wouldn't find out about government corruption. The Watergate cover-up would have worked.

That's the way the Adverse Trumper rolls. Starting to imitate AlbOwl.
 
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