Have Your Say

𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗭𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗔.

Britain initially refused to let us use Diego Garcia. Then agreed — only for “defensive purposes.” Spain refused NATO base access entirely. France and Germany expressed reservations. Trump asked European allies to send a few ships to help patrol the Strait of Hormuz. They declined.

And yet: most of Europe’s oil comes from the Middle East or North Africa. They need the Strait open. They need the Red Sea clear of Houthi attacks. They are closer to a nuclear Iran than we are. They know it. And they want the United States to handle all of it — while publicly criticizing us for doing exactly that.

VDH calls it European schizophrenia. Here’s his diagnosis.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽. Germany opened its borders under Angela Merkel — the German version of Alejandro Mayorkas. Today 16% of Germany’s population were not born there, the vast majority unassimilated Muslims. Other European countries run 6 to 12 percent. And the communities that arrived are often 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 than the countries they left — which were radical enough. They don’t want to integrate. They believe their birth rates and continued immigration will eventually dominate their host governments. And European governments are terrified of them. So when it comes to confronting Iran or expressing support for Israel — the internal political math makes it nearly impossible. They won’t lose the votes. They won’t risk the streets. They stay quiet and whisper to Washington: you handle it.

𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲. Germany dismantled its nuclear plants. Shut down coal. Refused to develop its own natural gas. Refused offshore oil. The result: energy costs two to three times higher than economic competitors, and total strategic dependence on the Middle East and Russia. You cannot have an independent foreign policy when your economy runs on energy imported from the very region you’re supposed to be confronting. That’s not a position. That’s a hostage situation they built for themselves.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱: 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗮. After the Cold War ended, Europe decided history was over. So they disarmed. The result: tiny Israel — 10 million people — fields more frontline combat aircraft than Germany, France, and Britain combined. Israel is flying sorties every day with some of the best pilots in the world. Europe’s three premier NATO partners cannot match them. This is not a funding gap. It’s a failure of will that has been building for thirty years.

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵: 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗲. American fertility is already a concern at 1.65. European fertility in some countries has fallen to 1.1. There is a cultural consensus in parts of Europe that children are an obstacle to the good life. A civilization that stops reproducing cannot sustain a military, fund a welfare state, or project power abroad. And yet they’ve added millions of impoverished immigrants demanding entitlements, straining the very socialist safety net they’ve built their political identity around.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲. In 1982, Britain needed to retake islands 8,000 miles away. The United States gave them 2 million gallons of fuel, sophisticated intelligence, and the offer of a carrier. Without American help, they likely fail. Now — when we ask to use Diego Garcia to confront a nuclear threat to the entire Western world — Britain stalls and adds conditions. VDH’s point is blunt: they forgot what American support looks like when it’s withdrawn.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. Europe has 450 million people and a GDP roughly the size of China’s. Even burdened by green energy policy, open borders, low fertility, and creeping socialism — it has the resources to be a full military partner. It chooses not to be. It knows what needs to be done. It wants it done. It will not do it. And then it will criticize the country that does.

𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 — 𝘢𝘴 𝘝𝘋𝘏 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 — 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤.