On May 18, undersecretary of defense Elbridge Colby announced the suspension of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense, an American-Canadian forum that was created in 1940. It offered senior officials the opportunity to exchange views on North American defense, including issues relating to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Insanely, Colby cited a speech made by Prime Minister Mark Carney. The speech did not hint at substantive Canadian changes in policy or its relationship with the United States. In other words, Colby paused an 86 year old forum because he was offended. Canada has recently increased its defense budget, making the decision yet more baffling. While most of this defense spending will now go to domestic Canadian equipment and systems, Trump and his allies never specified that NATO spending goals revolved around procuring American equipment.
This marks yet another gift to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping, who intend to exploit discord among their Western democratic enemies.
