> It's about the nukes

Is the right answer.

For all the jingoism being spouted, it would be nice if somebody had a whisper in Mango Mussolinis ear as to why NATO and the post 1945 order was formed, and who benefits from it (hint: all our democracies).

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graemep 2 days ago | parent [-]

NATO was formed to counter the threat of the Soviet Union which no longer exists. Russia is nothing like the same threat to the US that the Soviet Union was. The US is now more concerned about China.

Europe was economically and militarily important globally than it now is. Therefore defending it is less important to the US than it used to be, while Asia has become more important to the US.

Russia is not even anything like the same threat to Europe that the Soviet Union was. It has been further weakened by the Ukraine war and it will take many years to recover.

As for nukes, there are two acknowledged nuclear powers in western Europe.

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r721 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

>The US is now more concerned about China.

Ah, that's why "U.S. pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia" :)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-pulls-last-aircraft-c...

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pjc50 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah, recent events have clarified how much Israel and Saudi (and Bahrain, Jordan etc) are real defense priorities for the US. Expended a lot of Patriot interceptors and lost several aircraft on the ground including an incredibly expensive E-3 Sentry.

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GJim 2 days ago | parent [-]

> recent events have clarified how much Israel and Saudi (and Bahrain, Jordan etc) are real defense priorities for the US.

And why might that be? Presumably because the USA decided to start a pointless war in the middle east?

	▲	pjc50 a day ago \| parent [-]
		Yes. The real priorities are not the stated priorities because the administration is lying and/or making extremely poor decisions.

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graemep a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Its not the last aircraft carrier in Asia, as there are three in the Indian Ocean.

It is also a failure, not a policy, and if the US is struggling in more important regions its all the more reason to pull back from Europe.

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verzali 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Does the US really want to be facing a Europe with multiple nuclear powers and thousands of warheads?

Europe is a sleeping giant. America has long seen it advantageous to keep the giant sleeping. Now it is dancing around shouting "nee-naw" while the giant slowly opens its eyes.

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graemep a day ago | parent [-]

> Does the US really want to be facing a Europe with multiple nuclear powers and thousands of warheads?

Why not? There is no causus belli to fear, and Russia and China already have lots of weapons.

Europe is not really a sleeping giant. People here are in denial about the decline of the west (as shown by downvotes) but Europe is simply not the power it used to be. Just look at the GDP of Europe as a a proportion of global GDP. It has been the slowest growing region for decades.

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nremty a day ago | parent [-]

Hence "sleeping".

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rayiner a day ago | parent | next [-]

A young man and an old man taking a nap are both "sleeping," but one has his life ahead of him and the other is in his twilight. Europe is the latter.

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kelipso a day ago | parent | prev [-]

It’s going to be very sleepy even after it wakes up.

	▲	graemep a day ago \| parent [-]
		and no giant.