Somali referee Omar Artan, who was set to be the first from his country to officiate at the World Cup finals, has been denied entry to the United States.
Omar Abdulkadir Artan was voted the best African referee of 2025.
He was selected by @FIFAWorldCup to referee the World Cup.
America deported him and killed his dream.
Why? Because he’s Somalian.
Worst World Cup in history.
"A match official who was set to be the first Somalian to referee at the World Cup finals has been dropped after he was denied entry to the US.."
Why isn't FIFA demanding this decision be reversed? That's a rhetorical question. We all know why.
@BasedMikeLee National defence budgets and the budget of NATO is 2 different things 980B is U.S 🇺🇸 own military budget spending not NATO budget.
US defence budget is minimum 50% costs not related no NATO at all. Like 500 bases in Asia and pacific. Healthcare, pensions, veteran services etc
@oki8122@ProudIdealist@StateDept National defence budgets and the budget of NATO is 2 different things.
US defence budget is minimum 50% costs not related no NATO at all. Like 500 bases in Asia and pacific. Healthcare, pensions, veteran services etc
Let me explain something to the MAGA crowd, because clearly someone needs to.
They seem to think NATO is cosmic room service. You pick up the phone, say “hello, we’re having a bit of a war here,” and thirty-one countries march to your rescue. A continental Uber for military adventures.
That is not how it works.
Article 5 is a mutual defense clause. The clue is in the word mutual. And it has been triggered exactly once in NATO’s entire history. After September 11. When America was attacked. Not Europe. America.
Every NATO member showed up. They went to Afghanistan. They fought. They bled. They died. In America’s war. On America’s behalf.
Now imagine they hadn’t.
Over 1,100 allied soldiers died in Afghanistan. British, Canadian, German, Danish, Polish. And yes, even Ukrainian soldiers, who had no NATO obligation whatsoever. Gone. Without them, those are American names on those graves. Sons from Ohio. Fathers from Georgia. Kids from Nebraska who never came home.
Then there is the money. NATO allies spent over 100 billion dollars on a war that started on American soil. Without that, Washington pays every cent. On top of the 2 to 3 trillion the war already cost.
And without allied bases across Europe and Central Asia, American supply lines collapse entirely. Without British forces in Helmand and Canadians in Kandahar, the Taliban reconstitutes in three years instead of ten. The gaps get filled one way. More American deployments. More American coffins arriving at Dover.
Afghanistan was bloody. But NATO took the hit. Without them, every single one of those casualties would have had an American name.
Trump called allies like these losers. Suckers.
If you are a certain kind of broken person, that probably makes sense to you. But for the rest of us, what those soldiers did has a different name. Honor. The bond between men who have been in the same dirt, under the same fire. Between Brits and Americans, Frenchmen and Norwegians, Canadians and Danes. Not a diplomatic relationship. A blood bond. Brotherhood forged in places most people will never see and cannot imagine.
In that culture, you do not mock a fallen ally. You do not sneer at the dead. It is the lowest thing a human being can do. Trump did it to a standing ovation.
If you are a MAGA supporter travelling to NATO countries, understand this. There are no friendly pats on the back waiting for you. No one will buy you a beer. The governments who share your worldview sit in Minsk, Moscow and Pyongyang. Brutal dictatorships where journalists disappear, elections are theatre and dissent is a medical condition treated in basements. Not London. Not Paris. Not Rome, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin or Ottawa.
You have abandoned the open societies, the free press, the rule of law, the places where people actually want to live. You traded the best of civilization for a very small, very dark room. Frankly, it serves you right.
Gandalv / @Microinteracti1
Let me explain this clearly NATO was created as a defensive alliance. Its purpose is not to support illegal wars of aggression, but to defend against them. For NATO to support this war would be to go directly against the very foundation it was founded on. You didn’t even inform us that you were launching attacks on Iran. NATO troops bled for America in IRAK and Afghanistan.
@HallwachsJ91026@EricLDaugh It’s all about mutual interest. You contribute exactly as much as Germany does. You would lose intelligence, logistics, proximity, and cooperation. I don’t think you’d enjoy the U.S. going back to being a regional power.
@HallwachsJ91026@EricLDaugh Idiot this is U.S own National defence spending. It’s something different.
These numbers would be about the same if NATO didnt exists.
@ProudIdealist@StateDept Idiot this is U.S own National defence spending. It’s something different.
These numbers would be about the same if NATO didnt exists.
@Musing137@StateDept Who are the Traitors
EU troops bled for america in Afghanistan and Iraq. US betrayed european allies in Ukraine and sided with the enemy. Started tradewars, tariffs ,insulted allies, threatened to take Greenland. Europe own nothing to the US.