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John.Quote:
Originally Posted by John Pruden
If this is the case he will be there with most of the post war US presidents, think of the Weapons of Mass Production that wasn't, in Iraq, and the 300,000 killed there, now that is a war crime, and one that Bush never answered to, never mind that Sadam was a bully it was up to the people, not the Yanks to displace him,.
#78 Didnt he legalize his partner as well ? . Hes also had a couple of haircuts , maybe his wife took him in hand.? just to show him whose boss.
JS.
#91.. Des reading a readers letter in our local newspaper today is very close to one of my posts of a week or two ago, so others may have similar thoughts as myself outside of the propaganda coming from all quarters , and the more people think honestly and truly ,maybe the less friction there will be caused by political differences.The letter as copied is..
“ Unfortuanetley,I don’t have the steely eyed, sharp dlplomatic skills of presidents Biden and Putin, so my judgement of the situation in Ukraine is from a layman.
However to me , it seems that the Russian request to keep NATO out of Ukraine and thus NATO nuclear weapons and rockets from their border seems eminently reasonable.
Especially so when one considers the wobbly thrown by President John Kennedy and the US when the USSR attempted to install missile batteries in Cuba , effectively on the US border.
NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg tells us NATO is a purely defensive organisation, so nobody should worry.
As a layman , I also wonder what NATO was doing in Afghanistan. But that is beyond my statesman- like skills”
Letter writers name supplied with letter.
JS
#93, there seems to a misconception about NATO. NATO is purely a defensive operation ie threaten one member, threaten all.
NATO was not in Afghanistan.
Putin, according to the Media has threatened both Finland and Sweden with swift retaliation if they join NATO. Both countries have made overtures about joining the organisation.
After the fall of the USSR, Ukraine had more nukes and ballistic missiles than Russia, in fact I believe it was ranked third in the nuclear league.
Under independence Ukraine agreed to give them up.
Vic
My conception of NATO and I may be wrong was someone else made the choice of becoming a member for my own country. Was it was formed from the allied countries who fought against nazism during that conflict and so prevent any one power being able to consume the rest. In which case Germany should have been exempt., half of France should also have been excempt, Italy should have been excempt , take your pick of the remainder of Europe as most went along with Hitler. It was good doctrine in its day for keeping the so called peace for a long period of time. . What the use is today and it’s power I have no idea as such, as soon as the BAOR finished that would of thought that’s when it’s power would have started to nose dive. A lot of people don’t know today of its origins , maybe the letter writer has more knowledge than us maybe he fought in Afghanistan as a member of the Australian Defence Forces . They are his views , and as most people have their own, was just quoting someone from outside our circle. The letter caught my eye as it refers to Cuba and the blockade and I was around that area during that time I know what he is referring to, which was the closest until now of WW 111 starting . JS
I think Saddam overplayed his cards, you may recall, he told us he had weapons of mass destruction , and he said he would use them, we of course believed him, and knowing he had gassed thousands of people, we knew he would use them. Of course as we all know now, it was bluff, which cost him his neck stretched.
As for Ukraine, these are people who have known freedom for more than 20 years, and to see all those women and children rushing to the borders to escape, and leaving husbands behind to fight is a very moving scene. And to see them go from freedom to being under the Russian hammer in a matter of weeks is heart breaking, kt
The one big flaw at the moment is the impotence of all the censures against Putin is the absence of the United Nations Security Council. What has happened says everything what’s wrong wth the worlds diplomatic architecture. It also exposes why Putin can move with apparent Impunity . There is a fat chance of that happening with Russia sitting in the Presidents chair. Would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. JS ..
Interesting development, the French have seized a Russian ship loaded with cars, looks like a complicated situation. They are also calling on Turkey to close the entrance to the Black sea to Russian ships. I don't know how this stands in law of the sea, be interested in others thoughts,.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60539119
The law of the sea ? Most of what people think is a fallacy . The only two laws today that I know of is the restriction that a country can put on its own territorial waters , and the other faithful one don’t throw anything of a disgusting nature into it. To enforce the law you have to have the power to do it. There are no laws in warfare just to those who hold the stronger weaponry. JS
Keith.
Turkey has tried for years to join Nato, the last time Putin told them that he would stop all his people from going there on holidays, it was running the Turkish economy, Turkey will have to be careful what they do, because this wont last that long.
Did you see which countries abstained in the UN, one of them was our PMs Aucus mates India, I wouldn't be surprised that in six months many countries will be coughing behind their hands and slipping in to make deals with Russia for oil and gas. After all your own PM made a deal that no one knew about when Britain joined the EU.
Des