On American destroyers, avoid a self-inflicted wound in Spain

Excerpt

Sometimes friends behave badly. When that happens, it is not smart to hurt yourself in retaliation for the friend’s bad behavior. That is true in one’s personal life — and also when it comes to defense strategy.

Consider the case of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of U.S. force posture in Europe and whether Washington will maintain a handful of American naval destroyers forward-stationed in Rota, Spain. Stationing destroyers at Rota helps secure vital American interests in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East and allows the ships to spend more time conducting missions than traversing back and forth across the Atlantic.

To be clear, the government in Spain has certainly not been working overtime to win favor in Washington. Madrid has stubbornly refused to honor its NATO defense spending commitments, spending a paltry 2% of the country’s gross domestic product on defense. “2.1%, no more, no less,” President Pedro Sanchez said in June. “We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do it,” he said.

To make matters worse, earlier this year, Madrid also restricted the U.S. use of Spanish airspace or military bases for operations against Iran.

Rear Adm. (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Bradley Bowman are senior directors at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Montgomery served 32 years in the U.S. Navy, including as deputy director for plans, policy, and strategy (J5) at U.S. European Command. Bowman served in the U.S. Army as a Black Hawk pilot, taught at West Point, and advised members of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees.