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Mr. Sparkle

(3,639 posts)
Fri Jan 30, 2026, 08:13 AM 9 hrs ago

NATO Is Having a Military Exercise. The U.S., Its Largest Member, Won't Be There.

Source: NY Times

At a Spanish port 50 miles northwest of Gibraltar, four Turkish Navy ships, including a brand-new amphibious assault ship that doubles as an aircraft carrier, were set to arrive Friday to take part in NATO military exercises. They will then travel to Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, bringing tanks, landing craft, helicopters, drones and troops from southern Europe to northern Germany.

About 10,000 troops from 11 nations will participate. But not a single U.S. weapon or soldier will be among them.

Conceived long before President Trump was accused of undermining faith in the military alliance and its defense pact, the exercise, called Steadfast Dart, is being watched closely to see how well the allies manage without their largest and most important partner.

On paper, Steadfast Dart is designed to gauge how quickly the countries can get their military assets from one end of the continent to the other in case of an attack, a test of NATO’s Allied Reaction Force. But it comes as European leaders are scrambling to respond to signals from Washington that the NATO alliance is no longer as untouchable as it once was. “This exercise could well give an impression of the future of a Europeanized NATO,” said Lukas Mengelkamp, an analyst at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. The operation is the largest NATO exercise planned for this year, and with it, European NATO partners aim to show what they can do on their own.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/world/europe/nato-military-exercise-spain-germany.html

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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NATO Is Having a Military Exercise. The U.S., Its Largest Member, Won't Be There. (Original Post) Mr. Sparkle 9 hrs ago OP
It's probably good that the US is not participating. Lonestarblue 9 hrs ago #1
Good. SamKnause 9 hrs ago #2
Good. Europe must learn how to defend itself without unreliable "partners" because a partner Wonder Why 7 hrs ago #3
They know that Chump would blab everything Putin FakeNoose 7 hrs ago #4

Lonestarblue

(13,309 posts)
1. It's probably good that the US is not participating.
Fri Jan 30, 2026, 08:23 AM
9 hrs ago

Given Hegseth’s incompetence and arrogance toward NATO countries, he would probably try to sabotage their efforts.

Wonder Why

(6,615 posts)
3. Good. Europe must learn how to defend itself without unreliable "partners" because a partner
Fri Jan 30, 2026, 10:03 AM
7 hrs ago

today might not be a partner tomorrow, as they have just figured out.

For too long they have said, when America asks for help, needed or not, we'll back them, because when we need help, America will stand with us. What they never understood is that the U.S. is like what the American companies have become - short term thinkers. Go to war in an instant. Quit when we are tired of it, no matter what the effect is on the locals.

FakeNoose

(40,532 posts)
4. They know that Chump would blab everything Putin
Fri Jan 30, 2026, 10:45 AM
7 hrs ago

... therefore our former Allies aren't sharing any information with us anymore. Neither will Israel, for that matter. Probably nobody will share anything with us as long as Chump is in the White House.

Do we have any Allies left?

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