Surreal, if totally expected, given his insane military history , Southern Command, and run for president as a D.
Via RT July 11: “President Trump believes the lack of financial commitment from other NATO members puts an even greater burden on the United States to shore up NATO’s new defense plan to counter any Russian attacks, referred to as the 30-30-30-30 approach – 30 land battalions, 30 ships, 30 aircraft squadrons, with deployment within 30 days. The question is whose troops would be in the lead.
Trump’s tug-of-war with NATO members also reflects a deeper suspicion of Trump and his outlook for NATO’s very existence. Trump has said that if the members were to dedicate more money to their own defense, it would lessen the burden on the US, which has serious financial burdens apart from shoring up NATO. He also believes that NATO countries need the US more than the US needs NATO, since the US isn’t fearful of a Russian attack.
confusing ??????? ‘but the EU should be afraid of a Russian Attack™?
Admittedly, most of the calls to expand and grow NATO at a time of financial chaos among its members come from recent additions such as the Baltic States, Romania, and Poland – all of whom would like for the US to establish forward bases in their countries.
Because the West, especially the US, needs Russia as a rival, they all saw the need to expand NATO to justify the continued existence of NATO. In so doing, the West, especially the US, violated a solemn commitment not to expand NATO beyond its Cold War borders.
The NATO countries, however, say that such expansion is justified because of the so-called intervention of Moscow in eastern Ukraine in 2014, and what they call “the annexation of Crimea.”
https://twitter.com/Russian_trolls/status/1016959680504107008
‘Donald Trump tells Nato allies to spend 4% of GDP on defence; US president suggests doubling 2% spending target that only five countries have met’, the Guardian
“Donald Trump left the opening day of the Nato summit in Brussels in disarray on Wednesday after making a surprise demand for members to raise their defence spending to 4% of GDP, and clashing with German chancellor Angela Merkel over a proposed pipeline deal with Russia.
Trump left the assembled presidents and prime ministers floundering, unsure whether he was serious about the 4% target, double the existing Nato target of 2%, which many do not meet, or whether it was just a ploy.
After making the announcement, Trump walked out.
The chaotic first day dismayed Nato officials and will please Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has long pursued a strategy of creating division in Nato. Trump is due to meet Putin in Helsinki next week.
Nato leaders are pressing Trump to raise a series of concerns with the Russian leader.”
“The summit got off to a bad start, confirming the fears of Nato officials, when Trump had a tetchy breakfast meeting with the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg. He also said Germany’s new gas pipeline into Russia was inappropriate, and that it had become a captive of Russia due to its dependence on it for energy supplies.
“It should never have been allowed to happen. Germany is totally controlled by Russia because they will be getting 60%-70% of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline,” Trump said.”
…and here we’d been led to believe that you’re Putin’s Bitch, Donald.
https://twitter.com/lindachilders1/status/1017067662080335873
This is the exiting nordstream pipeline, which is the Big Bone of Contention w/ Herr Hair and Mutti Merkel.
On morning edit: I’ve borrowed it from b at MoA’s analysis: ‘Trump’s False Arguments Will Not Sell Well In Europe’ in which he notes that:
‘Nord Stream I has been operating for a while. Nord Stream II is currently being build by private Austrian and German companies.’ OTOH:
‘NATO’s Crisis and the Trans-Atlantic Conflict’, Jan Oberg, counterpunch
“We’re in Cold War 2 – of course not a repetition because of all the differences between that world and today’s. Ten of the former Warsaw Pact countries are now full NATO members, neutral states back then like Sweden and Austria have abolished that – wise – policy. And, mind you, the military expenditures of Russia – one country facing NATO’s 29 – are 8 per cent of NATO – yes, you got it right: Eight per cent of NATOs military expenditures in spite of all the propaganda about Russia and Putin representing an existential threat to Europe and the US if not the whole world. Who said disinformation was used only by Russia?
The Clinton Administration decided to not give a damn about the promises made and started the expansion of NATO in 1994, the new (humanitarian!!) interventionism in Yugoslavia – devoid of knowledge about its complexities, of common sense and without a UN Security Council mandate and one gross violation of international law after the other including the bombing of Serbia to carve out a forever-failed state, Kosovo state – the second Albanian state in Europe. Oh Crimea, what a crime in comparison!
And then came, one-by-one, incrementally – the new NATO members right up under the skirts of Russia in total defiance of its history psychology and legitimate near-abroad security perceptions.”
‘Bristol distillery apologizes over tasteless timing of Novichok-brand vodka launch’, but see…it was just the timing that was a mistake…
(We need to find out who the ‘2’ were, eh?)
on edit: rand paul and mike lee, utah, although the senate foreign relations committee is looking at more…explicit ones.
Too much to bring but satire alert: ““In the absence of U.S. presidential leadership, I want to make clear to our allies abroad, as well as our adversaries in the Kremlin, as to where members in the United States Senate stand,” said Menendez, adding that the chamber stands for the rule of law, an international order based on democratic values and with its allies.”
“Let’s be clear: (Herr T) Meeting with a thug (Putin) intent on undermining American democratic values should not be easy and it should not be chummy,” he said.
Tragically, no. It’s already obsolete but can’t admit it, zo: Evil.Putin.Revanchist.Dikkktator.Thug.
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
Dems and their oh-so “centre-right/center-left” allies in the EU and especially Germany have an increasingly egotistical motivation to hate Don Uncle Sam. For all their icons’ followers’ talk of elevendy-mentional chess matches and wut, Don Lady Liberty is a master troll whereby the truth hurts no matter how lyingly it’s sold.
ha; i think i may have some inkling as to what you’re communicating. but do amplify on two things: your last sentence, and why ‘egotistical motivations’? looks like mutti ain’t enjoyin’ the festivities much…or is she posturing for her decreasing ‘base’?
but thanks esp. for ‘don uncle sam’ and ;don lady liberty’. ;-) this a.m.’s ‘news’ seems ever more dire for russia (by way of jens-the-diplomat who thinks talk is better than war, even tho putin stole crimea…
Egotistical because he manages to make everything personal.
thanks for explaining; it’s a far more narrow observation than i’d thought you’d meant. but the man’s guilty of treason for meeting with putin in helsinki, so i reckon…he got his ego checked./s
okay, day 2: it’s over; ‘Wheels up! Can you spot @HELI_FEDPOLFED keeping an eye out over #Brussels?’ Is that God they’re talking about? Can’t wait to click in…
latvia, georgia are IN, skopje in northern macedonia is formally invited in; firm in our support for ukraine (not quite IN, but a protectorate)(poroshenko was there).
#NATO Secretary General and President of #Georgia discuss Black Sea security https://youtu.be/SXkhACG3wKg #NATOSummit (gagworthy as must have been 11 minutes w/ the chocolate king who can’t control his nazais: protect the black sea from…the unmentionable man not in the room. youtu.be/eIsZG0kdqII
Nato support for operation resolute support until 2040; “The Resolute Support mission currently comprises around 16,000 personnel from 39 NATO Allies and partners.” “Saudi Arabia plays a critical role in bringing peace to #Afghanistan. @DeptofDefense Sec. James Mattis sent a letter to Crown Prince Al Saud expressing gratitude for his willingness to magnify the importance of peace & reconciliation in Afghanistan. https://rs.nato.int/news-center/press-releases/2018-press-releases/saudi-arabia-fills-critical-role-for-future-afghan-peace.aspx …
https://twitter.com/ResoluteSupport/status/1017337967654948864
will Trump make NATO obsolete? are these people for real? assuming the Dems don’t “screw up” (wink wink, nudge nudge) the next election, some Obama or HRC asshole will just come along to “revive” NATO by a war in Europe…or Ukraine…
look at them market forces at work! the cheapest gas to Germany is bad b/c the money goes straight into Putin’s pocket. oil from Audi Arabia however…
as the NYT reported today, “look at what ISIS bombs did to Raqqah!” ISIS bombs, indeed. yeah, pretty sure NATO ain’t going nowhere except into Ukraine or Russia anytime soon. look at what a cash cow Afghanistan is.
Trump’s submental mouth is not in control. the only buttons he pushes are ones that set idiot liberal chicken hawks into a tweeting frenzy. since on matters of any substance he knows not a goddam thing, how, when it matters, is he anything other than a marionette? a puppet fascinated by its own ability to set a flood of words flowing from other puppets, all of whom confuse their words for power or the ability to make a decision. yes, freedom means twitlings being able to tweet tweet tweet like little birds at that twit of twat twittering away in the big house.
yet here’s a headline from those sharp long knives at the NYT: Trump gets everything from NATO that Obama wanted. Now which is it you lying liberal assholes?
lol. i’d forgotten to ask earlier: is j of 9 a riff on ‘7 of 9′ of star trek Vger? fuckin’ a, was that really the slimes’ headline? tell me who’d penned it?
his mouth, his tweetin’ mouth…surreal, but RT has it that he’s declared Victory as he’d extorted what he needed from mutti, and it’s all good: ‘mebbe we’ll all be friends w/ russia now!’
i was trying to remember which paper of record had a cartoon of putin and trump having sex, the description of the image dinnae quite stick in my noodle, obviously. now anywhere on a rupert murdoch site, the librul wouldda gone berzerkers, no?
and oil from Audi (love that un) Arabia goes to 6 more years of peace-making in afghanistan!!!! next nato wars will be R2Ps no? those poor iranian dissidents, those poor venezuelans (but nato will lead from behind colombia, new member…) the list is growing longer and longer, isn’t it? wish they’d make a map, not just lists at the nato site. dang, i forgot! it’ll be africom in africa! stabilizing shit the CIA foments in order to rape and pillage more precious earth minerals, etc.. what a racket. or save south sudan from american hegemony.
anyhoo, nice to see you, hope you’re doin’ okay…or better than okay. do take a gander at the ‘no to amlo’ diary though; think you might get charge out of it. sleep well, love,
wd
andre damon at wsws has the perfect title for his wrap up of the nato summit: ‘NATO, at war with itself, rearms for war with the world’.
he watched stoltenberg’s finale in the video above: “…the Secretary-General of NATO, declared at the end of the summit that “after years of decline, when Allies were cutting billions, now they are adding billions.” He boasted that over the past year and a half, “European Allies and Canada have added an additional 41 billion dollars to their defense spending.”
The most immediate and tangible outcome of the summit was a NATO plan to expand the number of high-readiness military forces ready to attack Russia, or any other country, at a moment’s notice. The summit resolution declared that “Allies will offer an additional 30 major naval combatants, 30 heavy or medium manoeuvre battalions, and 30 kinetic air squadrons, with enabling forces, at 30 days’ readiness or less.
The resolution reaffirmed NATO’s moves to deploy “four multinational combat-ready battalion-sized battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland,” including “over 4,500 troops from across the Alliance, able to operate alongside national home defence forces,” all within hundreds of miles of Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg.”
more transatlantic command centers, one in germany for ‘readiness’, and the increases in invitations to georgia, ukraine, macedonia on russia’s eastern border, but this as well:
“The summit resolution reaffirms the expansion of NATO’s nuclear arsenal, declaring, “As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance. The strategic forces of the Alliance, particularly those of the United States, are the supreme guarantee of the security of Allies.” and he covers T’s mercantilist war w/ germany and the whys of it.
i confess this made me laugh cuz it’s so true:
“Edward Luce, commenting Thursday in the Financial Times, noted that “Trump knows more than his critics give him credit for” because “he instinctively grasps other people’s bottom lines.” He adds, “The most lethal demagogue is one who grasps an underlying reality. Mr. Trump knows that Europe needs America more than America needs Europe.”
so T’s mafia boss thuggery got him what he wanted, but not according to mutti and macron. my impression was that the ‘new members’ and ‘invited members’ were more eager to fund the 30-30-30 hardware, but it doesn’t really matter, i reckon. as long as they’re Primed for War! i mean…peace and security…
damon notes as well the fact that increased war spending will further degrade what’s left of most nations social safety nets and will act to depress wage slaves’ earnings even further, but this may be his most important observation coupled w/ boss Tweet’s self-imposed trade deal (that he’s already losing), and his attempts to soon turn putin against iran (i assume he means the many op-eds claiming he’ll do that in syria in order to have sanctions eased on russia):
“This turbulent and chaotic world order recalls nothing so much as the geopolitics of the 1930s, with an endless parade of alliances created one day and overturned the next. In that period, each alliance created, no less than each alliance broken, was the prelude to the eruption of world war.
And in the 1930s, as now, every country was re-arming to the teeth amid the eruption of trade war and the rise and promotion of fascist movements throughout Europe.”
i’m also left wondering how much sanctions are hurting russia, other than sanctions against some of the oligarchs, although i haven’t kept up with the issue. but as it’s key to most of the opinions on the T-Putin summit, it’s a question worth considering.