Posted on 08/19/2008 12:25:05 PM PDT by SJackson
NATO declared Tuesday that it cannot have normal relations with Russia while its troops occupy large parts of Georgia, but alliance foreign ministers failed to terminate any cooperative programs.
The outcome of the emergency session called by the Bush administration indicated continuing divisions within the 26-nation organization even as Moscow has failed to withdraw its forces under a French-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Russia's representative to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, made light of the western alliance's indecision. "The mountain gave birth to a mouse," he told reporters.
Some European powers, like Germany, have been counseling restraint, anxious not to aggravate the crisis and jeopardize their energy supplies from Russia. The United States and former Soviet-bloc governments have advocated a tougher stance, anxious to deter the Kremlin from believing it can reimpose its influence over its former empire.
(Excerpt) Read more at kansascity.com ...
“Some European powers, like Germany, have been counseling restraint, anxious not to aggravate the crisis and jeopardize their energy supplies from Russia.”
Oh what a tangled web we weave.
Russia is mocking NATO - and I guess rightfully so. NATO is showing itself to be nearly as irrelevant as the UN.
And why in the world would Russia have a representative to NATO? I always thought that NATO was organized as a defense AGAINST Russia and it’s aggression...
Bring our troops home and let NATO defend Europe. Maybe George Washington had the right idea afterall. Those ninnies don’t want to be free.....
NATO = No Action Talk Only.
It’s obvious now.....Russian troops have not had the sensitivity and diversity training that American Troops have had.
We need a list of the NATO dissenters posted with haste. We must then ostrisize, boycott, shame and otherwise harrass those who put Liberty at risk for self serving motives.
“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
Winston Churchill
Well... at least the “nuclear threat” has dropped, huh?
If NATO is not careful, it could begin to give isolationism a good name again in this country.
If we rely on NATO, it’s going to be another UN/Iraq scenario. In other words, at the request of non-combatants, we’ll wait until the enemy has gotten strong enough to cost us (that is, the US) billions of dollars to uproot. NATO and the UN are about on the same level nowadays.
In general I'd agree, though NATO might have some diplomatic utility in a situation like this one. This is their home turf, not ours.
If anyone is going to do something, it has to be the people who have an immediate motivated self interest such as Georgia, Ukraine, Poland and the rest of the former Soviet states and territories who want to remain "former" and don't want history to repeat itself. Europe is lost unless or until they feel threatened enough to act...and by then it'll be too late, just like it was twice last century. The lesson they seem to have learned is to surrender until someone like the US saves them.
Just this morning, I was looking for a place to insert reference to the flick "The Mouse that Roared." I figured Russia would sooner or later equate itself to that flick and story. Description: An impoverished backward nation declares a war on the United States of America, hoping to lose.
BTW: It's a comedy.
If the above is what Mr. Rogozin has said, this tells me Russia has begun to feel the pinch.
I agree completely. And if invited in a NATO/SEATO type organization, the US should at least consider participation. And you're right, in the short term there's noting we're going to do about it. Though we should make them aware that's not carte blanche to restore their empire. Long term, sure would be nice if people realized that domestic energy supplies are both an economic and strategic plus.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.