Posted on 02/27/2023 4:10:12 AM PST by FarCenter
According to US President Joe Biden, America’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is “sacred.”
To be fair, NATO has proved to be one of the most enduring multilateral military alliances in history. Yet the mission it was designed for, to defend Western Europe from a Soviet invasion during the Cold War, has been over for decades.
Like most bureaucracies, however, NATO did not go away when it had helped to achieve an astonishingly bloodless victory in the Cold War. Instead, like most bureaucracies, it mutated and expanded.
The Soviet threat was gone after the Cold War, yet the uncertainty of a new Russia remained. But what were the extent and nature of that threat?
Well, if NATO wanted to keep growing, Russia would likely oppose it. So the NATO bureaucracy had to remove all obstacles to its continued existence. The smaller, less capable Russian Federation that replaced the Soviet Union would become the new (old) enemy of Europe that would justify NATO’s expansion.
And NATO, being this sacred, quasi-religious military alliance, would even court a third world war over the admission of new states such as Ukraine into its alliance over the fierce objections of Moscow.
“Self-licking ice cream cone” is a term used in American politics to describe “a process, department, institution, or other thing that offers few benefits and exists primarily to justify or perpetuate its own existence.”
This is NATO today. Only Western elites benefit from its existence. The rest of us, clearly, are now the targets of a potential nuclear world war because of its existence.
Asia Times, commentary straight from commie China.
NATO’s one and only purpose was to confront the Warsaw Pact. After Reagan destroyed the WP and Soviet Union NATO became a needless generational money pit for the American taxpayer. As I’ve said since 2000, after Russia had lived peaceably with its UNALIGNED neighbors for a decade, get the US out of NATO. As we sit on the precipice of a NATO driven WWIII, my concerns have been borne out.
I thought that too. I’ve always heard it. But NATO was actually formed before the Warsaw Pact. April 4 1949 vs May 14 1855.
And good details in all the rest.
Not many remember, but NATO brought west Germany into NATO May 6 1955. Warsaw Pact was formed a little over a week later. Interesting history.
That was NATO's ORIGINAL purpose. Since Russia under Putin still has imperial ambitions, many countries, including future NATO member like Finland, do not see it as "needless".
“..Asia Times, commentary straight from commie China...”
I would like to read your critique of the story. I, for one think it has merit. The European countries (EU) can stand on their own feet and don’t need the US. The US should be a good neighbor, not its domineering mother. Mother’s milk has dried up.
Main difference being NATO was an agreement between free countries.
Bingo. Reagan won the Cold War. NATO was holding his beer.
If I was Zelenskyy and Biden assured me that he will support Ukraine as long as it takes, I’d be signing a peace treaty today. As soon as it’s politically inconvenient, Biden will pull the rug out from under Ukraine. Witness the A-stan debacle.
What imperialist intentions? Imagine Mexico being the Warsaw Pact’s thirtieth member (Britain and Canada being #s 28 and 29). Imagine the president of Mexico, a Putin installed stooge, was allowing the WP to place WP armored divisions along the Rio Grande. Imagine Putin restating the WP goal of regime change in DC while standing in Juarez. THAT is exactly the situation Putin was in. Putin did not attack ANY unaligned state, he never attacked NATO or the US. After Obama led the 2014 coup against the elected Uke government, Ukraine has been nothing more than a U.S. globalist satrapy. This is exactly what I’ve warned about for 20 years. NATO is now nothing more than the woke Western globalists’ brutish thug. After watching Russia in Ukraine, you are absolutely insane to believe that Russia could possibly ever consider trying to project itself into NATO against all of NATO’s might. That “threat” is laughably ridiculous.
Oh, the West in Europe had no plans or alliance against the Soviets and their East European enslaved armies until someone gave it the name NATO? The same of the WP. Please, be serious. The western alliance later to be known as NATO, was a reality from 5/8/45 on. If you read Churchill, you can put that date somewhere in 1943. Are you trying to say Stalin’s hand on the WP was forced by the formation of NATO. Again, forget the naming dates of these opposing alliances and look at the reality of the situation from ‘45 on.
“Imperialists ambitions”? Are you a mind reader or a teller of the future? Do you do horse races too? NATO, 1991, “not one inch east of the reunified German border”. NATO (by far the greatest offensive behemoth the world has ever seen. 15-1 the conventional armaments of Russia), 2022, standing on the Russian border, one days tank ride from Moscow, “regime change NOW in Russia”. Since Obama, Soros, CIA and NSC overthrew the elected government in Ukraine in 2014, Russia has dealt with US globalist, not ambitions but reality, sitting on their border.
A-stan was not black mailing Biden, Zelensky is.
Ok Boomer. The exact same could be said for the New York Times and the Washington Post. To outside and yell at clouds now.
“Ok Boomer.”
Nothing proves your point better than using a 14 year old’s insult to start your comment. That’s pretty much an automatic debate winner.
OK boomer. Now all boomers should go off and quietly die to make the world a better place.
Even Germany and Italy huh?
Most of the points in the article seem hard to refute. But I would question NATO involvement on another basis first. Isn’t it the mission of the United Nations to prevent just such aggression by one country against another? (Assuming for the sake of discussion that that is what we see in Ukraine.)
So I see an either-or situation here. Either NATO has to be involved because the UN is worthless (and should be abandoned), or most nations of the world do not agree that this is aggression by Russia against Ukraine and NATO is wrong to intervene.
If NATO is right, we should pull out of the UN completely. If the UN is right, we should abolish NATO.
Even Germany and Italy huh?
Italy was a democracy when it joined NATO in 1949. Federal Republic of Germany was a democracy in 1955 when it joined NATO.
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