NATO is a treaty that binds America and our allies to mutual defense efforts.
The idea that Biden needs to reassure NATO allies on our defense commitment is nonsense:
Biden’s presence at the NATO talks is meant to demonstrate a renewed commitment to U.S. leadership in the alliance.
This is a treaty commitment by America--not of individual presidents. Which is why I thought it was silly to say Trump questioned our commitment. He could not at a whim eliminate that treaty commitment even if he wanted to.
Which he clearly did not want to
do given his reinforcement of NATO defenses and commitment to alliance defense spending goals, contrary to hyperventilating in the media. That was leading NATO.
Calling a Senate-approved alliance a "sacred commitment" is nice. Yet few NATO states actually fought by our side in Afghanistan after September 11, 2001, despite the hyperbole. (Although the agreement inflation makes sense when you consider whatever the original Iran Deal was.)
Also, people seem to have a misconception of Article V treaty commitments. There is no automatic response. The article simply says each member of the alliance will decide its own response to aggression against a member state.
But hey, if Biden thinks he can get Germany to lean forward on the alliance by reminding them of Article V, good luck.
