Trump’s War Is Damaging U.S. Arms Exports to Allies |
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Estonia is some way from the Persian Gulf. Even so, it has vocally supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. That has done it no good, despite Trump’s railing against NATO allies for not joining his attack on Tehran: This month, the United States canceled military deliveries to the Baltic nation because it needed the weapons for the Iran war. Other allies are encountering similar delays. The United States has the legal right to suspend weapons deliveries—but such suspensions will hardly encourage nations to buy American.One has to feel for Hanno Pevkur. Estonia’s defense minister has his plate more than full building up his country’s armed forces and worrying about the future of NATO. Remember that Estonia is one of the alliance’s most committed members, painfully aware of Russia’s imperial ambitions, constantly volunteering for assignments and spending 5.4 percent of its GDP on defense. Imagine, therefore, Pevkur’s distress when, on April 20, he received a phone call from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The United States was pausing deliveries of ammunition for HIMARS launchers and Javelin anti-tank systems until the war’s end at least, Hegseth confirmed to his Estonian counterpart.
“We were already aware that the U.S. had put all outgoing ammunition shipments on hold,” Pevkur told Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR after the call. “Rather, our question and discussion with Pete Hegseth concerned what the future prospects might be for resuming ammunition deliveries, and if those deliveries were to remain suspended for a very long time, then what alternative options there might be for increasing defense capabilities with production from the United States.”
Estonia is some way from the Persian Gulf. Even so, it has vocally supported U.S. President Donald Trump’s war against Iran. That has done it no good, despite Trump’s railing against NATO allies for not joining his attack on Tehran: This month, the United States canceled military deliveries to the Baltic nation because it needed the weapons for the Iran war. Other allies are encountering similar delays. The United States has the legal right to suspend weapons deliveries—but such suspensions will hardly encourage nations to buy American.One has to feel for Hanno Pevkur. Estonia’s defense minister has his plate more than full building up his country’s armed forces and worrying about the future of NATO. Remember that Estonia........