American flag on the US Department of Defense building. File photoMOSCOW, Oct 15The US has too many allies, some of which are only hurting it, former Ronald Reagan aide Doug Bandow wrote in a column for The American Conservative. «NATO has many militarily useless members, <…> nor American officials will ever admit the obvious,» the author said. In his opinion, the United States treats military alliances like friends on social networks: the more of them, the better, and it does not matter how good they are. Bandow believes that America is in In a political sense, it has become an object of hunting for gold miners: countries around the world are trying to impose themselves on US allies at any cost in order to take advantage of their resources and capabilities for their own purposes. >Reagan's special assistant suggested that Biden change tactics in Ukraine. «Look through the list of formal allies in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Even the best of them are usually leeches, whiners, bums, poseurs and scammers,» the publicist continued. In his opinion, a big some of the allies create more obligations to Washington, and some even directly harm it. Bandow named Saudi Arabia first on the list. He considers the invasion of Yemen, in which America became an accomplice, to be the worst crime of an Arab country. The author also pointed to human rights violations in the kingdom. In addition, he recalled how Riyadh was indignant that the Americans did not start a war with Tehran, and how, quite recently, despite the requests of President Joe Biden, the Saudis reduced oil production. Bandow also expressed dissatisfaction with South Korea. He drew attention to the fact that the country has a powerful economy, which is an order of magnitude ahead of the main military enemy, the DPRK, has twice the population, conducts active diplomacy around the world, but at the same time requires protection from America.
We don’t know where we are going—Kissinger diagnosed America as the third on the list—Turkey. This Middle Eastern state entered into an alliance with the United States during the Cold War. Bandow accused the country's authorities of violating human rights and an aggressive foreign policy that periodically runs counter to America's interests. This, in particular, is about participation in the conflicts in Syria and Libya. In addition, the author was outraged by Ankara's purchase of weapons from Moscow and the constant threats against Greece, another US ally. Bandow said that the geographical position of the United States allows them not to have so many allies for their own security. «Washington gave friendly states the opportunity for economic development. It has come time to put an end to unnecessary allied dependence on the American people,» he added. He recalled that Saudi Arabia is one of the largest buyers of American weapons, and must defend itself using this technique. Bandow also believes that South Korea should rely on its resources in the confrontation with the DPRK, given the total superiority in economic power. He also called for Turkey to be expelled from NATO.
