NATO expanded again yesterday

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 4:10pm

Everyone knows about NATO membership, but few are familiar with the fact that NATO has "allies" and "partners".
They include such countries as Japan, Australia, and believe it or not, Russia (from 2002 to 2014).
Qatar became a NATO partner in 2018, and Colombia announced a partnership last year.

Yesterday President Biden elevated the NATO status of both of those nations.

President Joe Biden has designated Qatar and Colombia as major non-NATO allies of the US, opening the door to closer military and commercial ties with both countries.
Biden's designation of Qatar on Thursday is a big U-turn from the policies of his predecessor Donald Trump who labelled the tiny Arab country as a sponsor of terrorism that led to the economic blockade of the Gulf state by its neighbours.

The designation is granted by the US to close, non-NATO allies that have strategic working relationships with the US military.

Unlike NATO membership, this designation does not guarantee military protection by the United States, but it does begin the process of tying them to our military.
Qatar wants more protection because both Saudi Arabia and Iran are potentially hostile.
It's Colombia that I find more interesting.

President Biden announced Thursday that he will name Colombia as a major non-NATO ally, a significant recognition as the United States tries to undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence in Latin America after his invasion of Ukraine.
...
It also comes as the Biden administration weighs lifting sanctions on Colombia’s oil-rich neighbor Venezuela, in an effort to make up for any gap left by the U.S. ban on Russian energy imports — a move Colombia strongly opposes.
Colombia has long been a close ally for both Democratic and Republican administrations; it is championed as a relatively stable and prosperous nation in a region with numerous corrupt or pro-Russia leaders.

That last sentence is hilarious. Colombia has one of the largest internal refugee problems in the world because of 50 years of guerilla war.
As for corrupt leaders, Colombian President Ivan Duque famously funded his presidential campaign with money from drug cartels. He's one of least popular leaders in the world.
But the U.S. overlooked all of that because Duque opposed the Maduro regime. So it certainly looks like Biden is extending an olive branch to the Duque government as compensation for changing policy on the fly.

Asked about the contacts between the United States and Maduro representatives after the meeting, Duque told reporters, "I'm not going to start questioning" U.S. policy.

As for Colombia, they are heading into an important election, and if the trends continue Colombia will be electing its first left-wing president in its history.

If Gustavo Petro wins in May, that would leave only Bolsanaro in Brazil as the only major nation in South America with a right-wing government, and Bolsanaro appears certain to lose to Lula in October.

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Submitted by Bisbonian on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 4:34pm

Is there any relationship between Russia leaving in 2014

and increased interest in 'working with' Ukraine in that same year?

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 4:45pm

Russia was kicked out of NATO partnership because Crimea

@Bisbonian
On a somewhat related note, we are still embargoing Iranian oil.

The US has quietly seized the cargo of two tankers suspected of transporting Iranian oil as part of an elaborate sanctions-busting scheme involving forged documents and the repainting of a ship’s deck to cloak illegal shipments.
Details of the seizure, which has not been previously reported, were contained in a federal civil case unsealed last month after the Greek-managed vessels discharged their valuable cargo, worth upward of $38 million, in Houston and the Bahamas at the direction of US law enforcement.

The seizure comes as the Biden administration seeks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that would likely entail the US lifting punishing sanctions. That task has been made more urgent by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the US decision to retaliate by banning all Russian oil imports, which potentially removes from Western markets more than 10 million barrels per day of oil.
...
But in recent months, Iranian officials have been suggesting they’ve been able to sell crude oil anyway around American sanctions. The Central Bank of Iran issued statistics at the start of February suggesting it made $18.6 billion in oil sales in the first half of this Persian year, as opposed to $8.5 billion the same period last year, according to the state-run IRAN newspaper.

Submitted by Bisbonian on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 5:31pm

Thanks

@gjohnsit

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 5:26pm

Reminds me of when Obama was trying to get more

countries in the TPP and let one of the ones that used kids in their military join after it had been vilified for years. Malaysia maybe? Child soldiers are bad unless we want something from the country.

But then we’ve been in bed with the head choppers and crucifying Saudis since Nixon so why not let a few more killers into NATO? It’s not like we have any legs to stand on. I just wish that the amount of effort going in to punish Russia was going to ways to end the conflict instead. What is the end game for all the sanctions? Does Biden think that Russia is just going to say okay you win? Seems to me that it’d be easier to just say that Ukraine will never join NATO and we will stop supporting the Nazis there.

Instead Biden’s crashing the global economy and bringing in murders from Syria and elsewhere to join the fighting. Where are they going to go after it’s all over? Ritter thinks that they will flood other European countries. With all those lethal weapons we are flooding Ukraine with. Better be careful what you wish for Europe or it might come back and bite you in the buttocks. Bigly.

Is there no one sane in Biden’s orbit or is he just surrounded by sociopathic neocons? I wonder how many people voted for this crap?

—

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 03/11/2022 - 6:50pm

Allies of U.S.

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg

But then we’ve been in bed with the head choppers and crucifying Saudis since Nixon so why not let a few more killers into NATO?

I would break these into two categories.

Category #1: U.S. allies that we later went to war with.
Saddam Hussein
Manuel Noreiga
Osama bin Laden (and al-Qaeda in general)

and sub-Category #1a: enemies we went to war with and later became allies
German Nazis, especially in Latin America (example: Butcher of Leon)
al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Syria)

Category #2: U.S. allies that we didn't go to war with.
Saudi Arabia
Contras
various fascist dictators in Latin America (Pinochet, Somoza, Trujillo, Duvalier, juntas in: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador)
various fascist dictators in Africa
various fascist dictators in Asia (Suharto, Diem, Reza Pahlavi, etc.)

Damn, I just don't have the time to type them all out.
Funny how I can't think of a single left-wing dictator that we've supported.

What is the end game for all the sanctions? Does Biden think that Russia is just going to say okay you win?

Sanctions almost never cause a nation to give in. Just look at Cuba or Iran.

Seems to me that it’d be easier to just say that Ukraine will never join NATO and we will stop supporting the Nazis there.

If Zelensky wants peace, he's going to have to do this. Because like I posted in an earlier essay, we'll gladly turn Ukraine into Afghanistan if it'll hurt Russia.

Instead Biden’s crashing the global economy and bringing in murders from Syria and elsewhere to join the fighting.

Actually I think it was Putin that was bringing in jihadists from Syria.
It wouldn't be the first time. Turkey employed them against the Kurds.
Although Ukraine is bringing people in from all over.
Chechens are fighting on both sides.

Where are they going to go after it’s all over?

They are exactly what the private armies of the world are looking for.
The UAE is fighting in Yemen with thousands of mercenaries from Colombia and Sudan.

Is there no one sane in Biden’s orbit or is he just surrounded by sociopathic neocons?

The Democratic party welcomed these psychopaths after Trump won.

Submitted by The Breach Awaits on Sat, 03/12/2022 - 7:34am

Psychopaths and democrats

@gjohnsit It has been going on since long before Trump. Victoria Nuland was Dick Cheney's advisor from 2003-2005, before "handling" the 2014 coup in Ukraine for Obama. She was tipped to be HRC's secretary of state, but those plans were postponed by Trump's surprise victory. It probably worked in the neocons' favor; I doubt the American populace would have been nearly so enthusiastic without the intervening four years of Russiagate/Skripal/etc propaganda.

#2 #2 But then we’ve been in bed with the head choppers and crucifying Saudis since Nixon so why not let a few more killers into NATO? I would break these into two categories. Category #1: U.S. allies that we later went to war with. Saddam Hussein Manuel Noreiga Osama bin Laden (and al-Qaeda in general) and sub-Category #1a: enemies we went to war with and later became allies German Nazis, especially in Latin America (example: Butcher of Leon) al-Nusra (al-Qaeda in Syria) Category #2: U.S. allies that we didn't go to war with. Saudi Arabia Contras various fascist dictators in Latin America (Pinochet, Somoza, Trujillo, Duvalier, juntas in: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador) various fascist dictators in Africa various fascist dictators in Asia (Suharto, Diem, Reza Pahlavi, etc.) Damn, I just don't have the time to type them all out. Funny how I can't think of a single left-wing dictator that we've supported. What is the end game for all the sanctions? Does Biden think that Russia is just going to say okay you win? Sanctions almost never cause a nation to give in. Just look at Cuba or Iran. Seems to me that it’d be easier to just say that Ukraine will never join NATO and we will stop supporting the Nazis there. If Zelensky wants peace, he's going to have to do this. Because like I posted in an earlier essay, we'll gladly turn Ukraine into Afghanistan if it'll hurt Russia. Instead Biden’s crashing the global economy and bringing in murders from Syria and elsewhere to join the fighting. Actually I think it was Putin that was bringing in jihadists from Syria. It wouldn't be the first time. Turkey employed them against the Kurds. Although Ukraine is bringing people in from all over. Chechens are fighting on both sides. Where are they going to go after it’s all over? They are exactly what the private armies of the world are looking for. The UAE is fighting in Yemen with thousands of mercenaries from Colombia and Sudan. Is there no one sane in Biden’s orbit or is he just surrounded by sociopathic neocons? The Democratic party welcomed these psychopaths after Trump won.