NATO: Deceptive and Broken Promises
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is taking new steps to move its military forces closer and closer to Russian territory
Elson Concepción Pérez | internet@granma.cu
June 27, 2018 18:06:50
Photo: Global research
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is set on taking new steps in its aim to bring its military forces closer and closer to Russian territory.
The latest move is to sign up Georgia, a former Soviet republic, and preparations are also being made for the possible entry of Ukraine.
“Georgia has expressed its willingness to take the next steps. We will continue consultations with our partners and we will continue to implement reforms, which will ultimately help us enter NATO,” stated Georgian Foreign Minister Mikhail Janelidze.
NATO “has crossed the red line” and is using Cold War tactics to increase its military presence near Russian borders, authorities of the country noted.
The latest moves by the warmongering organization have led me to recall the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the United States, among other promises, assured then President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward.
It was the beginning of the 1990s, a true amalgam in which those who repented having experienced or tried to build a European socialist society intersected with those who sold their souls to the devil, and those who still trusted in the “benefits” of the change of system.
The years passed by, with window displays full of Western trash, along with the neoliberal policies of local governments that, in many cases, forgot the social benefits of the socialist years. And it must be said that there were great social achievements, and human solidarity was a banner of that socialism, although it had problems, mainly economic, that encouraged discontent.
It was a socialism without much waffle and few neon lights, but that guaranteed basic benefits to its citizens. It was, in addition, socialism in countries with average economic development.
It is worth remembering that, with the collapse and disintegration of the Soviet Union, associations such as the Warsaw Pact and COMECON, which underpinned the military balance so necessary in times of imperialist expansion, and economic collaboration among the socialist countries, also fell.
In both cases, but particularly that of the Warsaw Pact, the naive – and if only they were just that – believed the Western promises – of the United States – that NATO would never threaten or move its troops and military equipment closer to the eastern region that for so many decades was part of so-called European socialism.
I remember words like perestroika, glasnost, bridge building, and others that later began to be set aside with the same speed we saw citizens selling personal belongings as souvenirs of the socialist era on Charles Bridge, in Prague.
Almost three decades have passed and, far from improving security in Europe, abolishing militarism, devoting less money to defense budgets and more to social programs, the opposite has happened. The Warsaw Pact no longer exists, but NATO is strengthened every day with the monetary and manpower contributions from each of the countries it includes.
Today, the so-called North Atlantic Alliance can be found operating in Afghanistan, or Libya, Yugoslavia or Syria, and even intends to extend its tentacles to Colombia, Latin America.
And – what a coincidence! Poland, one of the former socialist countries that borders Russia, which joined NATO in 1999 together with Hungary and the Czech Republic, has increased its military personnel and now has the eighth largest army of the Alliance.
Another coincidence – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three former Soviet republics, have also increased their military personnel numbers.
I don’t know whether politicians from the former European socialist camp, who once believed in the supposed promises of the U.S. that this military organization would never encroach on Russia, continue to maintain that “naïve” view, when everything indicates that NATO’s main target is Russia, which is why it is aiming to surround it and put it within reach of its weapons.
As an example, let us recall that in 2016, NATO approved an unprecedented increase of its military presence in Eastern Europe. This included the deployment of four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
At the same time, the warmongering Alliance has continued to expand its missile defense system, a U.S initiative that has taken hold in those places closest to Russian territory.
Although Western media coverage floods the planet in its attempt to create a global anti-Russian platform, the truth is very different and the current dangers are increasing.
NATO has crossed the red line and Russia has no choice but to prepare to respond to any Western aggression.
IN CONTEXT
- NATO has around 3,174,000 military personnel. This figure is much higher if we consider it also has civilian staff and reserve forces.
- Its means of combat – almost all U.S made – are among the most sophisticated on the planet.
- NATO defense budget is over one billion dollars per year, or 57% of the world total.
- United States troops represent 41.2% of NATO’s military personnel.
- Of the 29 member countries of the Organization, seven have increased their military personnel numbers in the last three years.
- An increased presence of NATO troops has been seen in Eastern European countries, the closer to Russia the better.
- Poland, with the eighth biggest army of NATO, has increased its military personnel by 11,000, representing 11%.
- Other countries that have increased their number of troops are Estonia, from 5,400 to 5,700, representing a 5.5% increase; Latvia, from 4,800 to 5,700, or 18.75%; Lithuania, from 7,900 to 14,000, or 77.2%; Norway, from 19,000 to 20,000, or 5.26%; Romania, from 67,000 to 70,000, or 4.47%; and Canada, from 61,000 to 73,000, or 19.67%.
Elson Concepción Pérez | internet@granma.cu
June 27, 2018 18:06:50
Photo: Global research
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is set on taking new steps in its aim to bring its military forces closer and closer to Russian territory.
The latest move is to sign up Georgia, a former Soviet republic, and preparations are also being made for the possible entry of Ukraine.
“Georgia has expressed its willingness to take the next steps. We will continue consultations with our partners and we will continue to implement reforms, which will ultimately help us enter NATO,” stated Georgian Foreign Minister Mikhail Janelidze.
NATO “has crossed the red line” and is using Cold War tactics to increase its military presence near Russian borders, authorities of the country noted.
The latest moves by the warmongering organization have led me to recall the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the United States, among other promises, assured then President Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward.
It was the beginning of the 1990s, a true amalgam in which those who repented having experienced or tried to build a European socialist society intersected with those who sold their souls to the devil, and those who still trusted in the “benefits” of the change of system.
The years passed by, with window displays full of Western trash, along with the neoliberal policies of local governments that, in many cases, forgot the social benefits of the socialist years. And it must be said that there were great social achievements, and human solidarity was a banner of that socialism, although it had problems, mainly economic, that encouraged discontent.
It was a socialism without much waffle and few neon lights, but that guaranteed basic benefits to its citizens. It was, in addition, socialism in countries with average economic development.
It is worth remembering that, with the collapse and disintegration of the Soviet Union, associations such as the Warsaw Pact and COMECON, which underpinned the military balance so necessary in times of imperialist expansion, and economic collaboration among the socialist countries, also fell.
In both cases, but particularly that of the Warsaw Pact, the naive – and if only they were just that – believed the Western promises – of the United States – that NATO would never threaten or move its troops and military equipment closer to the eastern region that for so many decades was part of so-called European socialism.
I remember words like perestroika, glasnost, bridge building, and others that later began to be set aside with the same speed we saw citizens selling personal belongings as souvenirs of the socialist era on Charles Bridge, in Prague.
Almost three decades have passed and, far from improving security in Europe, abolishing militarism, devoting less money to defense budgets and more to social programs, the opposite has happened. The Warsaw Pact no longer exists, but NATO is strengthened every day with the monetary and manpower contributions from each of the countries it includes.
Today, the so-called North Atlantic Alliance can be found operating in Afghanistan, or Libya, Yugoslavia or Syria, and even intends to extend its tentacles to Colombia, Latin America.
And – what a coincidence! Poland, one of the former socialist countries that borders Russia, which joined NATO in 1999 together with Hungary and the Czech Republic, has increased its military personnel and now has the eighth largest army of the Alliance.
Another coincidence – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three former Soviet republics, have also increased their military personnel numbers.
I don’t know whether politicians from the former European socialist camp, who once believed in the supposed promises of the U.S. that this military organization would never encroach on Russia, continue to maintain that “naïve” view, when everything indicates that NATO’s main target is Russia, which is why it is aiming to surround it and put it within reach of its weapons.
As an example, let us recall that in 2016, NATO approved an unprecedented increase of its military presence in Eastern Europe. This included the deployment of four multinational battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
At the same time, the warmongering Alliance has continued to expand its missile defense system, a U.S initiative that has taken hold in those places closest to Russian territory.
Although Western media coverage floods the planet in its attempt to create a global anti-Russian platform, the truth is very different and the current dangers are increasing.
NATO has crossed the red line and Russia has no choice but to prepare to respond to any Western aggression.
IN CONTEXT
- NATO has around 3,174,000 military personnel. This figure is much higher if we consider it also has civilian staff and reserve forces.
- Its means of combat – almost all U.S made – are among the most sophisticated on the planet.
- NATO defense budget is over one billion dollars per year, or 57% of the world total.
- United States troops represent 41.2% of NATO’s military personnel.
- Of the 29 member countries of the Organization, seven have increased their military personnel numbers in the last three years.
- An increased presence of NATO troops has been seen in Eastern European countries, the closer to Russia the better.
- Poland, with the eighth biggest army of NATO, has increased its military personnel by 11,000, representing 11%.
- Other countries that have increased their number of troops are Estonia, from 5,400 to 5,700, representing a 5.5% increase; Latvia, from 4,800 to 5,700, or 18.75%; Lithuania, from 7,900 to 14,000, or 77.2%; Norway, from 19,000 to 20,000, or 5.26%; Romania, from 67,000 to 70,000, or 4.47%; and Canada, from 61,000 to 73,000, or 19.67%.
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