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Why support U.S. when it holds friends, allies in contempt?

Dear Sir:
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Dear Sir:

The current US administration has chosen to declare a form of economic warfare on friend and foe alike as it thrashes about trying to find some kind of rational equilibrium on the world stage. It has imposed new sanctions against Iran despite State Dept. and Intelligence claims that Iran is abiding by the terms of the nuclear agremenet it signed with international regulators. It is imposing new sanctions on Russia despite offering no empirical evidence of claims of interference in US elections. These new sanctions fly in the face of criticism from key US allies that new sanctions will hurt the economic interests of NATO members such as Germany and France whose corporate interests are more closely tied with that of Russia and whose industries depend on interaction with Russian energy interests in order to maintain supply for both industry and domestic use.

Finally here closer to home, the administration is in full attack mode against our softwood lumber, dairy and supply management systems protected under NAFTA by basically demanding unfettered access to Canadian markets while enforcing “Buy America First” protectionist policies in order to restrict similiar access to American markets. They petulantly declare that they are ready to tear up NAFTA and take their toys and go home if they do not get their own way.

Is this a way to conduct international negotiations or to treat neighbours and traditional allies?

All this comes at a time when America is demanding NATO members pony up more money to prop up what amounts to a new American militarism and expansion of American hegemony in distant lands as far afield as Syria, Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula, South China Sea and bases all along Russia’s border – all lands literally ringed with American military bases meant to intimidate and contain enemies abroad, both real and perceived, in the dark tunnels of deception and imagination in the Pentagon and White House.

In light of the American administration’s lashing out economically and militarily against both its growing list of enemies and its traditional allies such as Germany, Canada and Mexico, why would the Trudeau government even consider contributing more to American military adventurism through its NATO trip wing and why are we not reconsidering our ill-advised military mission in Latvia which can only be considered yet another destabilizing NATO intrusion directly on Russia’s border.

Why are we spending money to support an American administration that holds its friends and allies in such contempt?

Brian Harvey, Terrace, B.C.