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𝐕𝐃𝐇: “𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐁𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄” Victor Davis Hanson just laid out the single most important strategic consequence of Europe’s refusal to cooperate with the Iran operation — and it’s not what the European foreign ministries think it is. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘕𝘈𝘛𝘖 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘈𝘛𝘖 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥.” That’s the core of it. The United States accounts for roughly 𝟔𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐎 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 — $𝟗𝟖𝟎 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 in 2025 alone (NATO). More than every other member nation combined. The U.S. didn’t ask Europe to fight. It didn’t ask for troops, logistics, or intelligence. It asked for 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 — the most basic privilege any alliance member extends. France said no. Italy denied landing rights at Sigonella. Spain closed its airspace entirely. Austria cited “neutrality” — while sheltering under an American nuclear umbrella (Bloomberg; Euronews). VDH’s response was devastating in its simplicity: “𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭? 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰.” He’s calling the bluff. Europe wants to posture as the moral alternative to American power — let them back it up. Let them secure the Strait of Hormuz. Let them deter Tehran’s ballistic program. Let them patrol the Gulf without the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Then Hanson put the military reality in perspective: “𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 93 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴.” He’s right. In 𝟑𝟒 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, the U.S. and Israel dismantled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, its missile production facilities, its naval assets, and its air defenses. The total U.S. combat fatalities stand at 𝟏𝟓 — tragic, every one — but historically unprecedented for a campaign of this scale against a nation of nearly 100 million. And as VDH pointed out, this is a war where 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 and still overwhelms the opposition. That’s not recklessness. That’s dominance so complete that transparency is a strategic luxury. The Europeans who denied airspace are now watching the same campaign succeed without them — which means the next time NATO comes up for discussion, the American argument writes itself. Trump already called NATO a “𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫” last week (CNN). VDH just explained why. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟕𝟓 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐞.