Posted on 12/30/2016 10:38:31 AM PST by Old Teufel Hunden
LONDON (AP) -- Europe's leaders are not expecting a smooth ride in 2017 following a year marked by political upheaval, extremist attacks, unchecked immigration, and a rising military threat from Russia.
Britain is suing for divorce, the far-right is on the march, some former Soviet satellites seem disillusioned with the West even as Russia seeks to regain its influence, and America will soon inaugurate an untested, seemingly Russia-friendly president who has voiced doubts about the usefulness of the NATO alliance. The uncertainty is thick enough to breathe.
It all looks so different from the triumphant panorama presented more than two decades ago when the European Union was expanding. Formerly captive nations freed from Soviet control seemed eager to embrace liberal democracy, capitalism - and substantial subsidies - from their wealthier neighbors.
There was rosy talk of an ever-closer union, the development of a single currency, and a cooperative relationship with Russia. It hasn't turned out that way - the EU, with its touted ideals of shared democratic values and free movement of people, has never seem so frayed and vulnerable.
"The risks for 2017 remain very high," said Adam Thomson, director of the London-based European Leadership Network research group. "We Europeans need to recognize that we face a level of risk in the West-Russian confrontation that we have not seen since the 1960s. It is partly because a lot of the security rules of the road have been torn up or suspended, so there are fewer rules and less predictability."
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
I guess they are not upset with all of the Russian forces that have been staged closer to them. That has nothing to do with it.
You do not get to the top of NATO unless you are part of the progressive-left statist status quo.
NATO's mission ended 25 years ago. NATO's mission now is to keep the EU on the globalist plantation, and stand guard over the steady transformation of EU society and culture by massive, steady social-engineering and immigration.
Bingo. NATO is being used as one of many tools used to push the slow and steady transformation of Europe, its culture and population. Russia is resisting the march towards a multi-culti western-progressive world, so as a nation, it must be weakened and broken. Hence every Obama operation from Syria, to Libya, to Ukraine/Crimea to NATO.
Sorry, I don't see it. Russia has every right to move troops wherever it likes within its own nation and that includes near the Baltics whenever the Baltic States are beating the war drum and holding NATO maneuvers on those borders.
I’ll add you to the Neville Chamberlain wing of the Republican party. All through the 30’s men like Churchill were warning the public the need to build up the military against the Nazis, oh we can’t do that was the cry. We can’t afford to....
Smart dictators test the limits first. Like Hitler with Alsace Lorraine, Austria and then Czechoslovakia. Putin even used the same excuse to go into Ukraine as Hitler did for his “invasions”. It was for the native Russian peoples..
I’m not saying Putin is Hitler. What I am saying is he has expansionist ambitions and wants all of the old soviet satellites back. He’s using the same tactics.
I will give credit to Putin for one thing, his response to this whole whiny Obama temper tantrum of Russian “hacking” our election. He has shown the world what an idiot Obama truly is.
As long as John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Paul Ryan are not in this wing, I'll take it.
They are not talking about going to war with Russia, but rather building up our military and encouraging NATO to do so also (i.e live up to their commitments). Trump has said the same thing basically.
I don't know. Maybe, or maybe not.
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union represented aggressive, globalist, even messianic, ideologies. Even Saddam Hussein had to ridiculously claim he represented true Islam and the 1600 year-old battle against the Jews when he invaded Kuwait. Putin and Russia today do none of this. In fact, they are the opposite. They represent their own culture, their own religion, their own sovereignty. They clearly have said they are pushing no ideology on the world, except that of national sovereignty.
Russia can invade Poland, but to what end? To make them Russian? How will they hold and organize it? With what ideology? As some kind of 19th century Czardom? I don't think so.
Ask yourself - who and what is the aggressive, globalist, utopian ideology of our present time? Who is promoting it?
Do you really think there are no hardline nationalist fascist factions in Europe? They cannot speak. It is not permitted. But of course it is there.
There is , but it’s very small, smaller than the size of the American KKK. That may be changing given the current problems with the Muslim Invasion.
This is all BS and a smokescreen just like the Poles ignoring the fact that they were run by a military junta prior to WWII and gladly took part of Czheckslovakia when the Germans took over most of the country.
Whatever. Think what you like, but the facts are that the NATO crowd is scared to death their perks and gravy train is going to end and next thing ya' know, poof, a major "crisis".
I don't believe a damn thing coming out of the Pentagon ever since after serving in VN I found out that the who attack on a US destroyer that was used to justify our sending anything but SF and advisers was nothing but a complete lie.
During my time in the Corps I think I heard every boneheaded theory and conspiracy theory anyone could possibly dream up so, I won't argue with you anymore.
Maybe the VC really were shipping hookers with incurable VD into dives around 29 Palms to cripple the USMC, maybe the nasty Russians aren't worried about fixing their own country, they're really worried about taking over a lot of little nothing countries that are falling apart.
Semper Fi.
Putin said that when the Soviet Union fell he thought that was the darkest day in history or some such thing. I have no problem with Russian nationalism, in fact I encourage it. However, that doesn’t mean that if there are Russian speaking peoples in Georgia he can invade it or the same in Ukraine. These are sovereign countries that he has interfered with by invading.
I don’t think he wants to invade all of these countries. I think he could invade the Baltics which he hopes (and I think also) would break up NATO because we would not come to their aid as we are treaty bound to do. This would break up NATO and all of the former soviet satellite states would eventually turn towards Russia instead of liberal democracy you would see nationalist autocrats come to power in these countries.
We can agree on Semper Fi at least.
The VC could have done more damage by shipping those VD infested hookers to Oceanside instead, more Marines there.
We can agree to disagree and I hope you’re right that Putin has no intentions on all these countries. Unfortunately I believe I’m right but I would be so glad and happy if you are.
Oceanside hookers were probably NVA regulars.
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