Recent criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states is unjustified, as the U.S. launched military actions against Iran without prior consultation with the alliance, a former NATO official said.
Trump has repeatedly lambasted NATO after it declined to take part in the strikes, describing the longtime allies as "cowards" and "paper tigers," and warning on Wednesday he may consider withdrawing the U.S. from the alliance.
In response, Jamie Shea, Former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, said NATO the U.S. president is treating NATO as a scapegoat.
"It does not consult NATO in advance. It does not lay down any specific objectives or a plan. It does not in advance ask the NATO member states to provide any kind of capabilities, and it doesn't have a mandate in international law. So NATO seems to be, if you like, the whipping boy on this occasion of President Trump’s dissatisfaction with contributions from the Europeans. But if those contributions from the Europeans were so important to the Americans, before they launched the operation, then why did they not make a much more concerted and organized attempt to consult NATO allies and get that put in place in advance?" he said.
NATO has responded to many of Trump's demands since his return to office, making the U.S. president's accusations now all the more confounding, Shea added.
"All I can add is that since President Trump has come back to office, NATO has done all of the things that Trump has asked NATO to do. Spend more money on defense, give more support to Ukraine, take over various former command positions vacated by the United States. NATO is really on the receiving end of a kind of criticism which I feel is completely unjustified and unwarranted on this occasion," he said.
Trump criticism of NATO member states unwarranted: former NATO official
