-while sending Jews fleeing for their lives?
What could possibly go wrong?
But if Washington can't see why a why an EU surrender to an economically weak, backward Russia was pretty much inevitable, those in the Kremlin could: sold-out, corrupt traitors like Gerhard Shroeder long ago hooked-up the EU's natural gas demand to The Bear's teat.
Alas, Europeans do seem to be slowly waking up to the foolishness of the situation they've put themselves in, beginning to diversify gas supplies. Putin threatening a pipeline disruption does scare them right-now today, tho
-he's done it before- so he's more than ready to play this card if anyone tries to get in the way of current Russian territorial expansion/attempts
to shatter NATO.
-he's done it before- so he's more than ready to play this card if anyone tries to get in the way of current Russian territorial expansion/attempts
to shatter NATO.
And it's really quite comical to hear EU/European national leaders talk like they're taking-the-high-road, avoiding even military equipment for Ukraine,
as if they act out of superior wisdom or some form of moral enlightenment.
as if they act out of superior wisdom or some form of moral enlightenment.
What would the EU do to 'get tough' militarily? NOTHING- and the KGB thugs in the Kremlin knew that, too- that's why they continue to do whatever the hell they want in Ukraine (and blatantly lie to our face every day about it) while cowardly Euro-technocrats sit in some office building somewhere, chewing their fingernails.
Fact is, the Europeans couldn't fight if they wanted to: they have almost no military air transport, drones, or aerial refueling capabilities, and only 4 of 28 member-states even meet their 'mandatory' annual NATO spending requirement. I would bet money the Israeli IDF could easily take on -and wipe the floor with- any EU state all by themselves, save perhaps the UK and France. Once-pround European militaries these days couldn't scare a fly out of the room.
As Vladimir Putin completely and totally ignores the Europeans -not even feeling the obligation/respect to be honest about a single thing- it couldn't be more obvious the EU's much-vaunted 'soft power' is in fact no power at all.
Look, nobody's looking to start WWIII here- but NATO was created specifically as an anti-Russian alliance: NATO having the military power and political will necessary to create an effective deterrent makes war with Ivan less likely, not more- it's always been that way. Obviously, the Russians smell weakness, or they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.
I just hope and pray this Ukrainian crisis will end better than I think it will...
and that somehow the Europeans will be forced out of their little dream world where they don't need to bother with national defense, nor to effectively confront emerging threats -'the Americans can do that'- yet 'we'll still refuse to stand-up alongside them against Islam, Putin... or anything else'.
and that somehow the Europeans will be forced out of their little dream world where they don't need to bother with national defense, nor to effectively confront emerging threats -'the Americans can do that'- yet 'we'll still refuse to stand-up alongside them against Islam, Putin... or anything else'.
A lot of what we are seeing is bluff, and the Russians are -as usual- simply playing a weak hand well: they need to be told 'no' in no uncertain terms by someone with the military and resolution to back it up.
They know that America/NATO has the power, but Putin obviously -and for good reason- doubts Obama's resolve, while feeling he can at least split the US/EU on the issue of confronting him. So far, it's going to his script because we've allowed it to.
Putin is not just after some muddy strip of Ukraine, it will be the Baltics next, as the Russians are RIGHT NOW out to destroy NATO and restore Russia as a 'great power'. His vile regime has got plans to make maximum use of Obama's last two years... BIG plans.
NOW is the time to stop the Kremlin, what a shame our own president is such a strategic retard, and that America's EU allies -the ones with the most to lose here- are in no condition to help much.
