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Comment by throaway89 | Hacker News Reader

Who in their right mind would not? If im the leader of a European country, and I see the US go rogue and annex their closest neighbour and longest ally, thats a clear message that the US can not be trusted.

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Sure, but in that case you might be more preoccupied with securing your own position rather than risking intervention on a continent you have no foothold in.

Securing your own position is contingent on having a proper deterrence to US invasion or belligerence. Unless you are thinking of appeasing them, but I doubt that European defense minds would consider that.

You realize most European armies have tons of US equipment right? They are barely able to hold back Russia, with US help. Now they're supposed to build up their domestic DIB, hold off Russia, and fight a war on unfamiliar territory?

I doubt they'd adopt outright appeasement, but they would be walking very cautiously.

I do realize that. The war in Ukraine is not being supported by Nato. They are sending supplies but the alliance is not entering Ukraine against Russia so as to not create a wider conflict. Note that Ukraine is not a NATO signatory while Canada is. In the case of the US annexing Canada,the strategic analysis would give two options. Either immediately oppose US aggression and form a bloc independent of them, or tacitly approve of it and leave yourself open to the same thing happening to you and your neighbours.

Sending munitions/equipment to one side means that you support that side ;)

I do not know what kind of mental gymnastics you make when you say NATO doesn't support the war in Ukraine, but it actually does - with the NATO SG going to Ukraine in a show of support.

AFAIK, there is no precedent to what will happen if a NATO country attacks another NATO country - we came close to that when the Turks and the Greeks almost started fighting a few years back.

Directly support as the commenter I was replying to was implying. Europe is not barely holding back Russia. Ukraine is. Article 5 would be invoked and the NATO states would decide what support to send. Greece and Turkey fighting over some islands isn't the same as the strongest nation in the world annexing its neighbours. There would be broad public support in Europe to oppose the U.S. simply on principle, let alone the security concerns.

Even more equipment if they force US troops to abandon their posts and their equipment as they are all now PNG from whatever country we have foreign bases.

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