India, April 2 -- US President Donald Trump's speech early Thursday (India time) reiterated many of his earlier threats to Iran while offering the American public his justification for the war that few at home seem to support. But it was most striking for what it didn't contain - any announcement of change in the US's membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). Just hours before the speech, Trump had spoken disparagingly of this security and strategic coalition with a large part of Europe. Some, therefore, had anticipated a big announcement in this regard before Trump spoke on Thursday.

That Trump holds Nato in contempt was never in doubt. It 2017, he called the alliance "obsolete", claiming it had outlived its Cold War ...