America is a democracy. That means that the government and the people help rule the country. Meanwhile a country like Russia is a dictatorship. That means that one person, rules the whole country. If you were to choose between the two forms of government, communist or democracy, which one would you choose? Personally, I would choose democracy, however Donald Trump has something else in mind.
Today, on CNBC news there was a news story about Donald Trump. He was speaking at a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, February 10. Apparently, some of our NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries weren't doing their part in spending at least 2% of their domestic product on the millitary. Because of this, Trump said he would not protect the NATO countries from Russian attacks, and instead he would incourage Russia to do whatever they wanted to the countries failing to pay their military bills. Trumps logic to this is, "You didn't pay, you're delinquent." He says, "You got to pay. You got to pay your bills."
Although this news seems sudden, Trump has had a history with Putin. On the Vox Politics website, there is a news story called, "Trump chooses Putin's word over the US intelligence community's-again." This article was written during the time that Trump thought the 2016 election was rigged. Earlier that year the FBI, CIA, and the NSA told Trump that Putin had something to do with the rigged election. However, Trump did not believe them, he trusted everything Putin said. Trump has a strong friendship with Putin, and doesn't really trust our intelligence system.
While the U.S. historically has had the most military personnel out of all the NATO countries, not having the NATO countries would be a huge loss to our military. On April 4th, 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty (Washington Treaty) was signed and formed the basis of the organization. The treaty affirms the rights of independent states and to individual or collective defense. When this alliance was founded, NATO had 12 countries from Europe and North America. However, right now, NATO has 31 member countries. They all come together to talk about political and security issues and how to solve them.
Supporting a communist country, even just in a public speech, does not seem appropriate or safe for a possible future president of our country. Both democratic and republican lawmakers have criticized and been concerned with Trump's comment. Joe Biden said Trump's remarks were "appalling and dangerous."
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2017/11/11/16636906/trump-russia-putin-intelligence
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67656.htm
Questions:
Do you think that Trump meant what he said about allowing Russia to attack other NATO countries?
Do you think Russia should be an ally of the United States?
What punishments do you think should be given to the NATO countries that don't pay their fees?
Replies
I don't think the United States should be allying with Russia, it doesn't sound like a good idea. I did not hear about Trump saying this about Russia being able to attack other NATO countries. If countries didn't pay their fees I think they should be kicked out of NATO and are on their own.
I think Trump meant what he said about Russia attacking other NATO countries. I do not think Russia should be an ally of the United States because they do not believe in the same things we do. Other NATO countries should have to pay their fees or possibly be removed from NATO.
I think it would not be a good idea for the United States to ally with Russia, I think it would not end well at all. I really don't know much of what Trump said about that so I prefer not to comment on that.
I don't think that trump giving Russia or Putin permisson to attack other NATO countries would be a good thing. It could put America at risk. I don't think that the U.S. and Russia can be allies. That would be a bad idea.
I agree, I think having Russia as an ally would end up very badly, especially since they are at war with Ukraine right now.
I really don't think that trump giving Russia or Putin permission to attack other NATO countries would be a good idea. It would damage America. I don't think the US and Russia will be allies though, the US and Russia have always butted heads and never been on amazing terms. Trump and Putin are civil but probably not friends.
I agree, I don't think Trump means everything he says, also his relationship could change with Putin any time.
I do not think that Trump allowing Russia to attack other NATO countrys is good for the whole NATO board. I think that they could see us aligning ourselves with Russia, and this could end in a huge disaster. I do not think that America and Russia would be allys due to our past.
I think that Trump would let them do it to an extent, what he says he will do but he will attack if Russia crosses boundries. I don't think that Russia would want to be an ally to America because we have hated eachother for a long time. I think that NATO countries that don't pay their fees are on their own.
I think the punishments should be maybe getting kicked out of NATO but that depends on what they did. If we could become allies with Russia it would be good for us but I don't think that will ever happen because they don't see political stances and other topics the same we do.
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