This month marked the 80th anniversary of the historic day that America’s finest young men stormed the beaches of Normandy alongside their allied brothers from Canada, Great Britain and the Empire beyond to free the peoples of Europe.
Opinion
Of this great endeavor to blend different armies into one cohesive fighting force capable of freeing the Old World from the grips of the Nazis, Winston Churchill would later say, “There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.”
That endeavor, as we all know, was a success. But the hardships of that victory taught the World War II allies one important fact, that fighting as one force does not come together effortlessly, and that fighting as one requires long-term organization and a long-term commitment. The allies agreed, and — pushed by the instability of European post-war reconstruction and the growing threat of Soviet Communism across parts of Europe and Asia — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was born. It remains intact and growing to this day, the largest peacetime military alliance in the world.
But a rising cabal of Republicans, including Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, are determined to weaken, if not obliterate, America’s critical membership in this powerful alliance. Hageman and others like her operate under the misguided, or perhaps coldly calculated, notion that America cannot or should not defend itself and its allies beyond its borders. And by juxtapositioning America’s current border problems against our historic NATO commitments, they have created the perfect toxic muddle to throw at voters. This muddle, led by those who espouse isolationist sentiments and fortified by a small number of outright Russian sympathizers, has succeeded at bringing attempts to defund NATO onto the floor of Congress. But the problem with playing politics with something as important as our national security is too obvious to overstate.
Case in point, Hageman recently voted, along with 45 other Republicans, in favor of an amendment to remove $433 million of NATO funding. The sponsor, Rep. Margarie Taylor-Greene, (R-Georgia), said this about her amendment, which ultimately failed, “The American people are tired of their money being sent overseas to defend the world while receiving nothing in return.”
Nothing in return? The statement is laughable.
That vote targeted a program that provides critical infrastructure support to American troops on the ground in allied countries. And while Greene’s stated goal was to “defund” NATO, she and Hageman didn’t vote to defund NATO. They voted to decrease funds needed to support American soldiers, which is a little like burning your own home down because your neighbors aren’t paying their HOA dues. Harmful and highly ineffective. There are better ways to discuss a decrease in military spending than this.
Every congressional vote matters. Just think, if Article 5 of NATO was invoked in the next six months, those 45 Republican representatives appeared to be fine with undercutting infrastructure support for American soldiers who would be called to fight alongside our allies. And while some may say this was a small amount of money or just a symbolic act by Greene and Hageman, there are no symbolic votes in our Congress. Every vote is scrutinized. Not just by the voters, but by our allies and our enemies. This sloppy attempt to harm NATO does harm to our country.
Hageman’s press release at the time of the bill passing made no mention of her “yes” vote on the Greene amendment, but she later echoed Greene’s sentiments, telling Cowboy State Daily, “NATO is failing. The USA has been shouldering more than our share for decades.”
The western front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. (WikiCommons)
Those are two very different statements incongruously put together. Let’s start with the first. Is NATO failing? By all objective measures and standards, it is not. From the desires of its founding charter to the addition of two new members in the past five years, NATO continues to thrive and stand as an immovable barrier against madmen and evildoers.
NATO remains the strongest deterrent against a global war that the world has ever seen. So much so that it has been duplicated (of sorts) in the Pacific to stand against the rising threat of Communist China. If this is solely the result of American overpayment, it was well worth it. And the correction would be to ask other nations to step up, not to withdraw and watch the global order implode into World War III.
The ideals that first created NATO are still valid and important, despite Hageman’s statements to the contrary. But her comments, despite their wrongheadedness, are less concerning than her vote. Compromising American fighting forces on the ground while a war rages on the continent is beyond reckless, it is downright dangerous. Hageman seems unserious about properly governing the matters of American soldiers’ safety abroad and gives the appearance she is willing to score political points at the cost of our long-term military objectives.
NATO’s survival is a deadly serious matter. Standing against those actors who would plunge the free world into chaos is a deadly serious matter. Votes like these highlight the smallness of the failing policy of isolationism or “America First.” Hageman should know that lesson from history.
D-Day will forever remain a reminder of the enduring strength of allies like NATO, coming together against a common enemy.
NATO was born from that reminder, and its mission is as relevant today as it was in 1949. For members of Congress like Hageman, their votes will be seen as a small attempt to resurrect the failures of isolationism in our history. Let us hope they continue to fail.
Former President Ronald Reagan understood the need for allies and all those who fought and won the Cold War on the strength of NATO and American ingenuity. Addressing those who paved the way for NATO on what was the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984 he said, “One’s country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.”
We need more men and women like this.
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