In an interview with FOX News Channel’s Sean Hannity, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said a major “reckoning” is coming for NATO, arguing that Western European countries have relied on the United States for too long. <\/p>\n
SEAN HANNITY: Yeah, let me let me ask you this, Ari Fleischer, the Japanese, the South Koreans, we have so many troops that help protect them from their enemies. Then we have, of course, NATO alliance, as the president calls them, the paper tiger. And more specifically, we have Spain and France, Great Britain, which has their Sharia courts, no-go zones on the continent of Europe, Italy even, unwilling to stand up with us against the number one state sponsor of terror. I would imagine when this is all said and done, there is going to be a thorough re-examination and reconfiguration of alliances that I believe our allies have taken for granted. Thoughts? ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yeah, you’re exactly right, Sean. This has been years, if not decades, in the making, and it really exposes a gap between the Western European approach to defense spending and the Eastern European approach to defense spending. The Eastern Europeans, having been under Soviet domination, they don’t want to be dominated again. They spend on defense. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, they are allies. They love America, and they know how to fight. Western Europe, for years, for decades, has not spent money on NATO. The United Kingdom is a slight exception to that. They have spent enough money on NATO. They’ve been a leader in NATO, but they’re very wishy-washy today. Under Tony Blair, under Margaret Thatcher, they were powerful and strong. The United Kingdom today is going wobbly. As for France, Spain, Italy, they are laggards and always have been laggards. They don’t pay for NATO. Canada as well. They’ve been content to let America carry the heavy burden. To make things worse, now that what we’re doing in Iran to benefit the entire world is underway, France, Spain, Italy won’t even give us access to the bases there or overflight rights. There’s going to be a reckoning. I think this is why Western European leaders are so nervous right now. They know they’ve gone too far. They know they’ve angered Donald Trump, and Donald Trump does things about it. There is going to be a moment where Western Europe is going to start to fall farther and farther behind. Eastern Europe is going to become more preeminent. I don’t want NATO to be destroyed. I do want it to be rearranged. Western Europe needs to know their role in world affairs is continuing to decline to the point where other nations, especially now the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Eastern Europe, that’s the face of freedom. That’s going to be the face of growth, not Western Europe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n