nato

Open Thread - 04-05-24 - In the Hall of the Mountain King

Note: I wrote the gist of this piece, below the fold, yesterday morning and left it untitled. When I came in from doing yard work around dinner time I found that Antony Blinken had made this shocking statement, and that lead me to the introduction and my title.

The King's Jester has spoken: King of the Mountain

Blinken says that Ukraine will be joining NATO. Under Article 5, this means that an attack on Ukraine will be considered an attack on the United States. If you want World War 3, vote Biden in November.

Source: X

Nato to expand "high readiness" troops from to 300K from 40K

High readiness means fully equipped and ready to fly anywhere on a moments notice. Many troops will be pre positioned and equipment stored close to Nato's eastern side. The Baltics are considered especially vulnerable to Russian aggression.

The invasion of Ukraine, and the way in which Russia has prosecuted it's war by purposely killing and terrorizing civilians has been a huge encouragement for all of Europe to join together in self defence.

Sweden and Finland OK to Join NATO

At the G7 meeting a diplomatic resolution was reached with Turkey. Turkey withdrew its objection to the two countries joining Nato.

I know Sweden valued it's non aligned reputation and was one of, and often the only country allowed to run humanitarian programs in closed communist countries such as Vietnam and Laos.

America's "moral outrage" is hypocritical self-parody

Denial can be a useful coping mechanism, but when taken to an extreme it just gets sad.
People living in the middle east are dumbfounded at the ability of Americans to convince themselves that we actually have a moral high ground when talking about Russia's war in Ukraine.

War Drums against Russia Bang Ever More Loudly

Some background, opinions, truth, and Agitprop

‘Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that Russia's "playbook" for an invasion of Ukraine is moving forward, though he said there still is a chance for diplomacy to avert a war, CNN.com, Feb.20

“Still, Blinken said the US would continue to try to find a last-ditch diplomatic path. He said that President Joe Biden is willing to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin "at any time, in any format" if it will help prevent a war, saying the Biden administration will continue to take whatever steps it can to try to convince Moscow not to invade Ukraine.

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