<nettime> World War III Diary: NATO Expansion is a Tripwire for War

["T.V. Weber & Alida Weber" <jatich@mcs.com>]

World War III Diary: NATO Expansion is a Tripwire for War

One lesson that everyone should have learned from World War I, but
nobody did, is that networks of alliances don't prevent wars. Instead,
every local conflict becomes a tripwire that drags one hapless nation
after another into an ever-expanding war.

During the breakup of the former Soviet Union, Russia willingly
dissolved the Warsaw Pact, with the understanding that the West would
reciprocate by dissolving NATO. To reciprocate would have made good
sense, from the standpoint of both practicality and morality. But the
West did no such thing, instead seizing the opportunity to expand NATO
into the vacuum left by the Warsaw Pact. 

Russia protested this breach of faith, correctly viewing it as an
attempt to encircle and cripple Russia permanently, both militarily and
economically. Until the last round of NATO expansion, which took effect
about a week before the bombing of Yugoslavia, Russia's protests were
mistakenly ignored by many in the West as just a form of paranoia. But
NATO's attack on Yugoslavia, its occupation of Kosovo, and its flouting
of U.N. Resolution 1244, have persuaded Russia that any further
expansion of NATO is a very real threat to Russia's continued existence. 

What does that mean? Unless the West comes to its senses, Russia will do
whatever is necessary to prevent NATO from approaching any closer to its
borders, and that means war.

You'd think Western leaders would use some common sense and back off.

But now we see Croatia--a longtime and bitter enemy of both Yugoslavia
and Russia--joining the misnamed "Partnership for Peace" and riding the
fast track into NATO. This is described in the article, "Croatia in the
Partnership for Peace," by Igor Alborghetti, which appeared in Globus
National Weekly (Zagreb, Croatia 5/12/00). The new Croatian premier,
Ivica Racan, made a speech in Brussels in which he expressed his wish to
be an active partner of NATO. The article even quoted Racan as saying,
"Units of the Croatian Army will be deployed in Kosovo as part of the
composition of the NATO force there." (See
http://www.egroups.com/message/decani/29363?&start=29362.) Another
article, "Croatian police in Kosovo," appeared in Danas (Belgrade)
6/5/00. Croatian foreign minister Tonino Picula claims that Croatia will
send a police unit, not a military unit, as its contribution to the
KFOR/UNMIK occupation...as if that's going to be any consolation to the
beleaguered Serbs holding out in Kosovo. (See
http://www.egroups.com/message/decani/29905?&start=29881.)

What does the West hope to gain from these crazy provocations?
Simple--whenever another country gets ready to join NATO, it bankrupts
itself to pay top dollar for U.S.-made armaments, so as to bring their
forces up to NATO standards. Make no mistake; that money will never find
its way into the pockets of U.S. voters and taxpayers. If anything, in
the long run, U.S. voters and taxpayers will end up subsidizing many of
these purchases. The profit goes to the merchants of death who wield
political power behind the scenes in the U.S., and they owe loyalty to
no one but themselves.

But that's not all, not by a long shot. According to the Washington Post
article,  "Nine Nations United in Bid to Join NATO," by William Drozdiak
(5/20/00), the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Albania, and Macedonia, all got
together to invite themselves into NATO. (See
http://www.egroups.com/message/decani/29207?&start=29182.) 

This proposed "big bang" NATO expansion (what an evocative name!) would,
of course, require legislative approval in Western nations, including
the approval of the U.S. Senate. And, according to a Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty report (6/1/00), NATO Secretary-General George
Robertson announced at NATO's Parliamentary Assembly in Budapest that
NATO will not make a decision on whether or not to admit new members
until 2002. (See
http://www.centraleurope.com/hungarytoday/news.php3?id=164942.) So this
"big bang" might not be a foregone conclusion--not officially, anyway.
But 2002 is only a year and a half away, and Robertson is a NATO leader
and one of that organization's main spinmeisters, so that's not much of
an assurance.

The real issue is this: Why are these nine foreign ministers so eager to
drag their nations down into an even greater degree of financial ruin
than they currently suffer, as well as into a great risk of widespread
war? These people are selling themselves and their nations into slavery.
But why? Is someone manipulating these foreign ministers behind the
scenes, with bribery, threats, deception, or flattery? Or is it simple
appeasement--after the bombing of Yugoslavia, any failure to show enough
enthusiasm for joining the New World Order means that their country will
be bombed next?

Maybe joining NATO will, in fact, prevent NATO from bombing their
country the next time the president of the U.S. feels the need to "wag
the dog." But that won't keep their country from becoming a battleground
in the next major war. We suggest that NATO is not the only entity that
can bomb. 

Are we just blowing smoke--or is it mushroom clouds? The article,
"Scaling NATO's Ramparts," by Helle Bering, (Washington Times "Opinion"
5/24/00, http://www.egroups.com/message/decani/29452) foolishly
supported NATO expansion, even though the same article relayed Russian
President Vladimir Putin's warning that "'the expansion of military
alliances' outside Russia's borders is a threat to Russian security."
And Russia regards NATO-led combined military exercises in the Baltic
Sea, which involve both NATO and non-NATO nations, as a direct threat
(see "NATO-led military exercises begin in Baltic Sea" (Reuters, 6/6/00
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20000606_690.html).

Clearly, joining NATO is no shortcut to national security and no
guarantee of peace and safety. A nation--any nation--is better served by
keeping its own armed forces on its own territory, ready to defend its
own borders, shores, and skies--and by avoiding any words or actions
that would give unnecessary and pointless offense to other nations.  

T.V. Weber & Alida Weber

P.O. Box 388164
Chicago, IL 60638-8164
U.S.A.

1-773-767-5690

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