Podcast: NATO Is a Mess. It’s Time to End This Outdated “Alliance”

On FPF #425, I explain why NATO should be dissolved. NATO leaders are meeting in London and there are plenty of issues among the members.

Turkey is recently purchased Russian made air defense systems and is refusing to sign off on defense plans unless other countries label the Syrian Kurdish militia as a terror group.

France is accusing Turkey of using terror proxy groups against the Kurds in Syria. The French president recently called NATO brain dead, identifying the alliance lacks an enemy.

Trump said he would not be surprised if France leaves NATO and is threatening sanctions on the Franch. Trump is also frustrated that many member states are making no progress in meeting the NATO target of spending 2% on defense.

Links

• Texas is seeking the death penalty against a man who killed someone breaking into the window of his home. The intruder was a SWAT team member in a no-knock raid. The police only found a glass pipe and grinder. [Link]
• Jordan Smith explains fingerprint analysis can be a complex and subjective science. The so called experts who testify in criminal trials have dubious qualifications. [Link]
• Trump is using the PATRIOT Act to indefinitely detain a non-US citizen in the US. Trump is the first president to use this power. [Link]
• The Trump administration is considering adding a regulation that would require all US citizens to be photographed entering and leaving the country. [Link]
• General Dynamics will get a $20 billion contract to build Virginia class submarines. [Link]
• The Navy awards General Dynamics with a three-quarters of a million-dollar contract to supply the ground systems for the Navy’s satellite communications. [Link]
• Singapore is attempting to enforce its fake news law. It claims a blog posted fake information. Singapore first pushed the author to publish a correction. He refused and is not under investigation. Singapore then asked Facebook to post a correction. Facebook has not responded. [Link]
• Julian Assange will testify in a Spanish court about a Spanish company spying on him while he was in the Ecuadorian embassy. The Spanish company is accused of illegally spying on Assange’s privileged conversations with lawyers and passed the intelligence to the US. [Link]

NATO/New Cold War

• NATO countries are working on a plan to pay more of NATO’s budget in an attempt to appease Trump. France has said they will not sign on to the plan and already contribute enough to defense. [Link]
• Russia formally proposes to extend the NEW START Treaty for five years. Russia says it is also open to a shorter extension. [Link]
• Trump says Russia wants to make an agreement on arms control and nuclear. Trump suggested bringing China into the deal. [Link]
• A senior State Department official says Russia is in compliance with the NEW START Treaty. [Link]
• Russia showed US inspectors its hypersonic nuclear missile system under the auspices of the NEW START Treaty. [Link]
• The Trump administration is 100% duties on $2.4 billion in French champagne, cheese, and other products in response to a French tax on digital products. [Link]
• Trump says he can see France leaving NATO. [Link]
• The French president says Turkey is working with ISIS proxies. [Link]
• US Senators, led by Graham, send the White House a letter calling for sanctions against Turkey for buying S-400 air defense systems from Russia. [Link]
• NATO awards Boeing a $1 billion contract to upgrade AWACS recognisances planes. [Link]
• Turkey is refusing to sign off on a NATO defense plan until NATO starts recognize the Syrian Kurdish militia the YPG as a terror group. [Link]
• Turkey says their newly purchased Russian-made S-400 air defense system will not be integrated into NATO’s air defense. Russia says Turkey is looking to purchase more S-400s. [Link] 

Latin America 

• Pompeo says the US will support Latin American countries trying to suppress riots and unrest. [Link]
• Trump will place steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentia. Trump accuses the countries of currency manipulation that is harming American farmers. [Link]

Afghanistan

• Secretary of State Esper says the US withdrawing troops is not necessarily tied to negotiations with the Taliban. [Link]
• The US killed a family of six with a drone strike in Afghanistan. [Link]
• Trump traveled to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving. He said he believes the Taliban would engage in a ceasefire. The Taliban confirmed they have resumed talks with the US. [Link]
• The top US general says peace talks have a higher chance of working this time. [Link]
• Fifteen members of an Afghan family were killed by a roadside bomb on the way to a wedding. [Link]

Israel

• A UN report estimates the Israeli occupation of Palestine has cost the Palestinian economy $48 billion from 2000-2017. [Link]

Syria

• The UAE says it hops Syria stabilizes under Assad. [Link]
• Heavy clashes in Idlib Syria have killed 96 people over two days. [Link]
• A Syrian airstrike killed ten civilians at a market in Idlib. A Turkish airstrike killed ten civilians in a Kurdish region of Syria. [Link]
• Two Turkish soldiers were killed by a mortar attack in southern Turkey near the Syrian border. [Link]

Yemen

• 20 African migrants were killed traveling through Yemen to Saudi Arabia. Reports say they may have been killed by an airstrike. [Link]
• The Red Cross says 128 Houthi prisoners of war have been released by Saudi Arabia. Saudi claims to have released 200 prisoners. [Link]
• The Houthi claim to have shot down a Saudi helicopter. [Link]
• A German court reverses a de facto ban on selling armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia. [Link]