Pence's NATO speech

If Pence's speech at the Munich Security Conference fell flat - and it certainly did - Angela Merkel's got a standing ovation.

Long a showcase for the solidity of the postwar Western alliance and America’s enduring commitment to European security, this year’s conference has looked more like a transatlantic reality show.

“People are not talking to each other, nor at each other, they are talking through each other,” said Ana Palacio, a former Spanish foreign minister who has been attending the conference for more than 20 years.

[...]

James Stavridis, a retired American admiral who served as NATO’s supreme allied commander until 2013, said the alliance’s paralysis was most apparent where it can least afford it: hybrid warfare, an area that all sides agree poses a severe threat to the stability of democratic systems. (Hybrid warfare includes cyber attacks and disinformation, tactics Western capitals suspect Russia of employing during the 2016 U.S presidential election and ahead of the Brexit vote.)

[...]

Merkel, speaking first, presented a vigorous defense of her approach to foreign policy, in particular her commitment to multilateralism, the rules-based order and to diplomacy. She also made clear there was no question of Europe abandoning the Iranian deal, as Pence has demanded.

[...]

“If we’re serious about the transatlantic partnership, it’s not very easy for me as German chancellor to read … that the American department of commerce apparently considers German and European cars to be a threat to the national security of the United States of America,” Merkel said.

[...]

Merkel, who also offered a detailed defense of Germany’s contributions to the NATO alliance, received a standing ovation at the end of the address

  Politico

And then Pence got his turn.

"We will not stand idly by while NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries,” he said, in an apparent reference to Turkey's plan to buy the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

“We cannot ensure the defense of the West if our allies grow dependent on the East."

[...]

"When authoritarian regimes breathe out vile anti-Semitic hatred and threats of violence, we must take them at their word,” Pence said, in a thinly-veiled criticism of Europe for continuing to engage with Iran, despite U.S. sanctions.

But, Pence's speech also ended on a decisively undiplomatic note - perhaps intentionally.

Pence’s speech, which he closed with “God Bless the United States of America,” jarred the audience.

Jesus Christ.

And why was Ivanka Trump at this meeting?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UPDATE: