Posted on 02/28/2022 2:28:19 PM PST by dynachrome
When the Bush Administration announced in 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia would be eligible for NATO membership, I knew it was a terrible idea. Nearly two decades after the end of both the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War, expanding NATO made no sense. NATO itself made no sense.
Explaining my “no” vote on a bill to endorse the expansion, I said at the time: NATO is an organization whose purpose ended with the end of its Warsaw Pact adversary… This current round of NATO expansion is a political reward to governments in Georgia and Ukraine that came to power as a result of US-supported revolutions, the so-called Orange Revolution and Rose Revolution.
Providing US military guarantees to Ukraine and Georgia can only further strain our military. This NATO expansion may well involve the US military in conflicts unrelated to our national interest… Unfortunately, as we have seen this past week, my fears have come true. One does not need to approve of Russia’s military actions to analyze its stated motivation: NATO membership for Ukraine was a red line it was not willing to see crossed. As we find ourselves at risk of a terrible escalation, we should remind ourselves that it didn’t have to happen this way. There was no advantage to the United States to expand and threaten to expand NATO to Russia’s doorstep. There is no way to argue that we are any safer for it.
NATO itself was a huge mistake.
(Excerpt) Read more at ronpaulinstitute.org ...
A breath of fresh air. Someone willing to go against the deep state narrative playing out with identical messaging on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc.
I disagree with Ron Paul on this.
NATO serves a better purpose than the UN. It is time we destroy the UN, and build NATO to include all true democracies as a way of fighting the authoritarian governments of the world.
“Nearly two decades after the end of both the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War”
He’s not paying attention. The Warsaw Pact and the Cold War never ended. They just took a break.
Damn, that’s a great idea.
With us paying for it all like we have been. Sounds great, except we are broke.
A report that Ukraine pilots will pick up their jets at Polish airfields to fly against Russia. Report from Lookner. This could widen the war .
So, you are saying that an alliance designed to keep the imperialistic Russians at bay is obsolete? Good job standing by your convictions in the face of the evidence.
When long term hard core neutrals like the Swedes and Finns start thinking it is a good idea, it might be a good time to reevaluate that premise.
A voice of reason.
Sorry, I don’t support the corporate globalists and their shifting of US wealth around the rest of the world at the expense of our citizens. I believe we should be a sovereign nation.
Why is it our media openly questions Putin’s sanity, but has taken any discussion of Biden’s mental status off the table?
I don't agree. That may have been true if Russia were under a moderate leader. The annexation of Crimea and someone like Putin in charge of Russia meant Ukraine absolutely needed to be a part of NATO. What's happening in Ukraine is a demonstration of what happens when you are a neighbor of Russia, Russia claims you and you are *not* a part of NATO. The tanks roll in.
You and I know the reason for that. Biden is the global corporate fascists’ puppet. Now they need one in Russia. Then they, along with their partner, China control the world.
One note on that:
Maintain a stringent 2% of GDP toward defense rule.
Any country that does not meet the 2% rule and does not provide an equivalent share of personnel and equipment to every NATO engagement does not get to vote in NATO decisions.
“NATO serves a better purpose than the UN. It is time we destroy the UN, and build NATO to include all true democracies as a way of fighting the authoritarian governments of the world.”
Agreed. The problem with NATO is it ignores Asia. We should expand it to add Australia, Japan, South Korea and perhaps India. A permanent bulwark against China.
You have it backwards
Since it's inception, NATO has expanded from 12 member states to 30, with the Ukraine, Finland and Sweden looking for membership. NATO has waved a matador's red cape in front of Putin for years.
No war for Elites.
Reread my post about including all democracies….
I agree that we should expand it worldwide….
This is why NATO works
“Article 5
“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of tArticle 5
“The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.”
hem, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as a result thereof shall immediately be reported to the Security Council. Such measures shall be terminated when the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to restore and maintain international peace and security.”
It basically makes war obsolete between separate states.
I fail to see why this is a bad thing. Civil wars are still allowed, as that seems to be what people want. But international wars would stop if every state accepted NATO Article 5.
He also said Russia was never planning on invading Ukraine and their military build up was for another purpose along the border and stating otherwise was just propaganda. Well that was wrong, wasn’t it?
He’s also buddy-buddy with Code Pink.
Could go on forever.
He’s hardly someone to be taken seriously.
Yep
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