Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule

The Guardian ^ | 11/4/21 | Jenifer Rankin

[hardspunned]

Vladimir Putin wanted Russia to join Nato but did not want his country to have to go through the usual application process and stand in line “with a lot of countries that don’t matter”, according to a former secretary general of the transatlantic alliance. George Robertson, a former Labour defence secretary who led Nato between 1999 and 2003, said Putin made it clear at their first meeting that he wanted Russia to be part of western Europe. “They wanted to be part of that secure, stable prosperous west that Russia was out of at the time,” he said. The Labour peer recalled an early meeting with Putin, who became Russian president in 2000. “Putin said: ‘When are you going to invite us to join Nato?’ And [Robertson] said: ‘Well, we don’t invite people to join Nato, they apply to join Nato.’ And he said: ‘Well, we’re not standing in line with a lot of countries that don’t matter.’” The account chimes with what Putin told the late David Frost in a BBC interview shortly before he was first inaugurated as Russian president more than 21 years ago. Putin told Frost he would not rule out joining Nato “if and when Russia’s views are taken into account as those of an equal partner”.

[TigersEye]

But Daddy Warbucks rules. Gotta have a perpetual boogey man.

RFK Jr. ties a neat bow on that point. It's a shame it has to come from him but it's true.

RFK Jr Explains the Real Problems With Ukraine, BlackRock, and the Military Industrial Complex Rumble video 3:22

[TigersEye]

Institute required civil rights and democratic reforms. Institute freedom and liberty.

When will that be required of Britain and Canada?

[Rockingham]

Putin made clear that he wanted into NATO — but on Putin’s terms, which included access to NATO and US technology, weapons, and intel. Call me cynical, but I am not inclined to say yes when an unreformed gangster suddenly wants to become a police captain for the asking.

[dfwgator]

Better Russia than Turkey.

[Rockingham]

The world is not so congenial. We might get stuck with both Turkey and Russia.

[hardspunned]

How about all those Nazis? Ever hear of Wernher von Braun? If you’d like some interesting reading, check the resumes (1914-1945) of all our NATO allied leaders in charge during the years following the war. You must remember why the Russians were “unreformed”. When they asked to be, we refused to allow their rehabilitation. Now your Nazi gangsters, all best buds and forgiven on 5/9/45.

[dfwgator]

Gather ‘round while I sing you of Wernher von Braun
A man whose allegiance
Is ruled by expedience
Call him a Nazi, he won’t even frown
“Nazi, Schmazi!” says Wernher von Braun

Don’t say that he’s hypocritical
Say rather that he’s apolitical
“Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
That’s not my department!” says Wernher von Braun

Some have harsh words for this man of renown
But some think our attitude
Should be one of gratitude
Like the widows and cripples in old London town
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher von Braun

You too may be a big hero
Once you’ve learned to count backwards to zero
“In German, und Englisch, I know how to count down
Und I’m learning Chinese!” says Wernher von Braun

-Tom Lehrer

[Rockingham]

Unlike von Braun and a clutch of other defeated Nazis, Putin, a gangster and KGB thug, did not want or ask to be rehabilitated. He simply wanted into NATO to subvert it.

[hardspunned]

What a load of crap.

[MeganC]

One of the shortcomings of the North Atlantic Charter is it keeps dictatorships from joining NATO but is silent if an existing member slips into dictatorship. Turkey comes to mind here as an egregious example.

[Rockingham]

What part do you reject? That Putin is a gangster? A KGB thug? Or that he has always wanted to subvert NATO? Perhaps you see Putin as thoroughly misunderstood, a teddy bear eager to become besties with NATO and the US.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Russia wasn’t allowed in NATO because they won’t accept the NWO.

[amnestynone]

So you are accepting Russia as a legitimate and positive influence in the world?

[hardspunned]

He wanted to join NATO for obvious reasons. Remember Reagan’s “City Upon a Hill”? They bought what turned out to be a lie. A lie to them when Reagan offered it to them. A lie to you and me now that the globohomos have destroyed our city upon a hill. Putin stopped the globohomos and their neocon stooges at Russia’s border. Huzzah! for the straight, normal Russisn people. When it comes to Putin and his values or the weird, pervo globohomo values you and your DC fellow travelers push, put me on the Putin, Orthodox side.

https://twitter.com/VocUnchained/status/1754753456412455276

[Rockingham]

I suspect a lot of Kool Aid drinking there. I am old enough to remember Reagan’s “City on a Hill” speech when he delivered it. The speech was directed at America’s domestic audience, not Russia. Putin is a gangster who has had many people murdered to gain and stay in power. He is not a faithful Orthodox Christian.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Yes!

[Basket_of_Deplorables]

RFK Jr. is a breath of fresh air.

[x]

Didn’t we all sort of already know that?

I don’t know how sincere Putin was, but the story’s been around a while.