GORDON SONDLAND: No more 'restraint': Europe must stand with America on Iran

Europe fails to support US-Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear program and this posture betrays transatlantic alliance values and emboldens China's ambitions.

Gordon Sondland served as the 20th U.S. ambassador to the EU. He is the founder of Provenance, a national hospitality business, and the author of, "The Envoy: Mastering the Art of Diplomacy with Trump and the World."

The collective message from the continent was not solidarity but distance. If the transatlantic alliance cannot count on Europe for even full-throated public support while Americans and Israelis bear the costs and the risks, then what, exactly, is the alliance for?

I write from experience. As the United States ambassador to the European Union, I was charged with urging our allies to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and join America’s maximum-pressure campaign.