Posted on 07/11/2023 12:58:21 PM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appears to be unhappy with reports that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit currently underway in Vilnius, Lithuania, will culminate with an offer of increased support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, but not an offer of full membership in NATO.
Zelensky used social media on Tuesday morning to assure NATO members that Ukraine will always “value our allies,” but would insist on “respect” — and he evidently feels the proposed wording for inviting Kyiv to begin a lengthy process of applying for NATO membership, with an uncertain time frame and numerous conditions to be met, is disrespectful.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
After V-E day we had a formidable occupation army in place. We didn’t need a NATO if we had wanted to stay there. Instead, we had a mad scramble of demobilization and wholesale repatriation of troops, also redeployment of troops to the Pacific. Even then we still had a large contingent in Western Europe. Paul Johnson’s Modern Times goes into it in detail. NATO was organized at the urgent behest of the western allies.
As someone who was assigned to a NATO command in Italy 1968-70, I can assure you that the 500,000 American military personnel (excluding dependents) stationed in Europe were there to defend against an attack by the Soviets. The big concern was that they would come through the Fulda Gap. The Soviets had a large, well-trained military force, a legacy from WWII. The 1960s were tumultuous times with the erection of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Prague Spring. And then there was Vietnam and the civil rights movement.
At that time West Germany had a robust, highly capable military presence.
The Soviet request to join NATO in 1954 was turned down because ‘the unrealistic nature of the proposal does not warrant discussion’. If you recall, the Soviets blocked all land access to Berlin from June 1948 until May 1949. The Berlin airlift kept the Allied sectors of Berlin alive and functioning. NATO was founded in April 1949. The Berlin Airlift was still ongoing.
Churchill made his Iron Curtain speech on March 5, 1946 that articulated the threat that the Soviet Union and communism posed to peace and stability in the post war world. It would be ludicrous to think that the Soviets were serious about joining NATO or that NATO would even consider it.
In August 1949 the Soviets had their first successful test of an atomic bomb. From then on, they conducted numerous tests and built a formidable atomic weapons arsenal. This certainly changed the global balance of power. And the thought of Stalin with nuclear weapons was disconcerting to the West to say the least.
LOL, were you asleep when Reagan armed the Contra's, the mujaheddin, retook Grenada, etc
Right, when Reagan had the military take over Grenada, when he armed the Contra's in Nicaragua and when he sent arms to the mujaheddin in Afghanistan who were fighting the Soviets, "Reagan would be effectively working for peace". Okay
Way to go. You lost the argument you were trying to make that Reagan would be just like Biden in defense of the Ukes.
So what do you do? You change the argument into a criticism of Reagan regarding the Iran-Contra Affair. A mistake. Not a deliberate plan of grifting and betrayal.
So now what? You have any more complaints you want to share regarding our greatest president?
This article, by 2016 Hoover Library & Archives Silas Palmer fellow Stephan Kieninger, paints a portrait of George Shultz’s key role in bringing about a pillar of global nuclear arms control: the INF Treaty. Emphasizing the importance of Secretary Shultz's focus on process and personal diplomacy, it shows how he managed to reconcile two potentially contradicting aims: President Reagan’s wish for America’s victory in the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and Reagan's simultaneous desire to abolish nuclear weapons by relaunching U.S.-Soviet cooperation.
Additionally, Reagan formulated his Diplomacy, and implemented it, late in his Presidency, during his best days as an International Statesman after he learned the best approach to resolve international conflict and Make America Great.
cede those two areas, stop the war...and then they may become a member of nato...
He has received from US, the equivalent of a Mercedes FACTORY!
Point to my criticism. I NEVER criticized Reagan.
You're statement "Reagan accomplished the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union using trustworthy statesmanship and diplomacy, without firing a shot" is only true in the sense that Regan himself never fired a shot. Otherwise its nonsense.
Really, the Reagan who never got us into a War, who was a Peacemaker, and brought down the USSR without firing a shot? THAT REAGAN!?
Ukraine in, US out is fine with me.
The Soviets were Communists, yes Reagan fought Communism everywhere,and he managed to do it without a Nuclear War. Are you seriously going to tell me that Putin and Russia are still Communist?
I don’t think it was a mistake, it was a great plan.
Russia is still imperialistic. They had an expanding empire under the Czar, under the Soviets and they are trying to rebuild their empire under Putin.
“Does Ukraine border with the North Atlantic?”
Well, if that were the primary condition, half the countries in NATO would not qualify for admission.
Not the sane thing to me.
Point to my criticism. I NEVER criticized Reagan.
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This is exactly what you said....
“Right, when Reagan had the military take over Grenada, when he armed the Contra’s in Nicaragua and when he sent arms to the mujaheddin in Afghanistan who were fighting the Soviets...”
So what do you mean here? Are you saying this is a good thing. That Reagan was correct in Iran-Contra?
No... you were being sarcastic (critical).
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