‘Not Our War’: NATO Learns to Tell Trump No
Allies showed some spine in resisting demands to jump into the Iran conflict.
Photo illustration: 731; photos: AP Photo; Getty Images (2)
An unusual thing happened when Donald Trump demanded America’s allies help him end his war against Iran. They said no.
It was clear days after US and Israeli missiles started flying in February that Operation Epic Fury wasn’t going to be the quick, in-and-out victory the US president anticipated. The regime in Tehran did not surrender despite devastating bombardment and the targeted killing of its supreme leader. Iran hit back, both with missiles of its own and by choking off the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping lane for crude oil and natural gas, fertilizer and other essential cargo. As global markets recoiled and weak public support in the US for the war got even weaker, Trump ordered other nations to send warships to secure the strait.