Turkey signed an agreement with Russia to purchase Russia's S-400 air defense system and parts of the system have already been delivered. President Trump threatened Turkey with sanctions if they purchased and installed the system but Turkey brushed those threats aside and said the U.S. and Europe had not presented a viable alternative to them.
The hang up is Turkey manufactures parts for the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jet and the Pentagon thinks the Russian system will undermine the U.S. stealth technology. The U.S. is also training Turkey's pilots to fly the F-35 jets but stopped the effort when it looked like Turkey would go with the Russian Air defense system.
Turkey, a NATO ally also displayed its independence during the administration of George W. Bush when they refused the Bush administration permission to use Turkish soil to launch part of the ground war into Iraq during the 2003 invasion. Republican administrations are not very good at diplomacy and threats against countries like Turkey have no standing.
The trumpet man's foreign policy continues to be a disaster and Putin still has the goods on Trump and Trump is still denying Russia's role in the 2016 Presidential election. Putin is also aware that Trump does not think much of the NATO alliance and Russia's deal with Turkey may become another wedge for Trump to hang his hat on. Time will tell.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
