NATO Bled for America

The American covenant is sealed with the blood of many nations.

World leaders convene for the NATO Washington summit in 2024. (Credit: The White House)

Elon Musk has tweeted his agreement to a proposal that the United States exit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) just shy of the alliance’s 80th anniversary. To do so would not be the conservative path forward. An American exit from NATO would represent not merely a betrayal of ideas that have guided our foreign policy since World War II, it would be an insult to the legacy NATO left us. NATO was founded as a military and political alliance of capitalist democracies to counter the spread of communist totalitarianism. Most importantly, Article V of the treaty requires all members to come to the defense of any in the case of attack. However, despite collaboration in technological innovation and strategic drills, NATO was never activated during the Cold War. In 2025, NATO faces its first major opposition since isolationists rallied against it decades ago. Thus, there is no better time to remember the singular moment where Article V was invoked. 

3,000 Americans were burned to death in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. America had been attacked. Families wept, war rose on the Afghan horizon, and the nations of NATO fought for the stars and stripes. 2,461 Americans died over two decades of War in Afghanistan, but they did not die alone. All told, 1,160 non-Americans contributed their lives to the defense of our republic. 457 British men died for the wayward colony that had saved them from the demons of continental fascism. 159 Canadians died for a national older sibling, not to be the 51st state. 90 Frenchmen, 62 Germans, and 53 Italians breathed their last in defense of the flag that liberated their nations. 144 families from nations once under Soviet subjugation mourned for sons that died fighting for their shining city on the hill. In The Great Gatsby, the titular character wistfully boasts that he won a medal from every allied power, “even little Montenegro, down by the Adriatic Sea.” With a population the size of Wichita, Kansas, even little Montenegro sent troops to support the United States in our occupation of Afghanistan.

The nations of NATO have demonstrated their commitment to the alliance and the United States. Yet, NATO has become controversial because of its support for Ukraine in its struggle against Russian invasion. Surely, as of 2025, Ukraine’s cause seems dire. Despite sending billions to Ukraine, the Biden Administration largely tied the hands of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Asking Ukraine to strike a peace deal with Russia is reasonable, but refusing to recognize Russia as the aggressor is not. Moreover, legitimating Russia’s annexation of southeastern Ukraine would not only be detrimental to America’s grand strategy but also contrary to her history and ideals.

As this young republic fought its Revolutionary War, nations came to its aid. Facing insurmountable odds against a global power, aid from that empire’s rivals saved our nation. The situation is eerily familiar to any Ukrainian in 2025. Among the early great heroes of America was the Marquis de Lafayette, a young Frenchman whose daring and guile turned back Redcoat advances. In the form of billions in military, humanitarian, and economic aid, we Americans sent Ukraine her Lafayettes. Why would we now tell liberty to surrender before tyranny? The voice of America cannot in good faith tell Ukraine that perhaps Winston Churchill was wrong in his noble dictum that righteousness  “shall never surrender” in the face of evil. It is as if Lafayette had shaken General Washington’s hand in 1777 and told him to bow down before King George III. 

We Americans have long celebrated those who fight the good fight. Take Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe’s retort of “nuts!” when asked to surrender by the Nazi force that surrounded him or Admiral David Farragut’s immortal demand to “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” In Ukraine’s battle for survival, it is not difficult to see an American spirit. Ukrainians now feel the rage Americans would have felt had France turned their backs on liberty in 1777. Our allies in NATO are justified in worry. Instead, America should love our European neighbors as we have loved ourselves. We have proven these fights can be won. Our flag’s crimson stripes are not painted only with American blood.