Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg said that NATO may need to be replaced, claiming that the organization has proven to be “cowardly“ and ineffective during the conflict with Iran, Fox News reported.
He criticized NATO allies for their inability to resolve the conflict in Iran. The general suggested that the United States could benefit from other defense partners.
“NATO is turning out to be a coward. Maybe we need a new NATO, a new defense structure,“ Kellogg said.
He pointed to Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that any country can withdraw from NATO one year after submitting of notice of denunciation as a way out of the situation.
Kellogg suggested alternative alliance structures:
“Review existing defense alliances, perhaps create an alliance with Japan, Australia, and some European countries that are willing to commit, such as Germany or Poland. Even Ukraine, which has also proven to be a good ally.“
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously held positions related to NATO operations, called the state of the alliance ““““.
“I have considered NATO to be a very important ally for decades. But to watch them stand idly by, to fail to convince their own people, their domestic audience, that it is important to explain to them why they are safer because of what the United States has done with our friends in Israel, and to help us accomplish this mission... I think that will require a fundamental rethinking how the United States defines exactly who our allies are and what we can count on“, he said.
The New York Times recalled that since his re-election, US President Donald Trump has threatened to leave NATO several times. On Wednesday, April 1, he did so again, expressing disappointment that European countries refuse to join the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has so far not led to decisive results. But the more he criticizes NATO and threatens to leave, the more hollow the alliance becomes.
According to one official, the US now seems to be part of the problem with global disorder. He noted that the country is no longer the solution or the guarantor of last resort.