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inanna

(3,547 posts)
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 05:30 PM Mar 2015

NATO, Russia Exchange Barbs Reminiscent of Cold War Days

Source: Associated Press

RIGA, Latvia — Mar 5, 2015, 4:01 PM ET

NATO and Russia exchanged heated language reminiscent of Cold War days on Thursday with accusations of sinister geopolitical plotting and human rights abuses flying across an increasingly deep divide.

NATO's top U.S. civilian official, Alexander Vershbow, said Thursday that "an angry, revisionist Russia" was stopping at little to re-establish its clout in Europe, including redrawing "borders by force to achieve its goals."

Vershbow, the alliance's deputy secretary-general, told a conference in Latvia that President Vladimir Putin's "aim seems to be to turn Ukraine into a failed state and to suppress and discredit alternative voices in Russia, so as to prevent a Russian 'Maidan,'" referring to the Ukraine uprising which ousted Moscow-ally Viktor Yanukovych as president last year.

<snip>

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov blasted the West for trying to enforce its will on others and cast Russia as an enemy. He condemned NATO's decision to create command and control centers in the Baltic states and three other eastern allies, and to upgrade a headquarters unit in Poland — calling those moves a clear signal that the alliance views Russia much as it once did the Soviet Union.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nato-russia-exchange-barbs-reminiscent-cold-war-days-29410372

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NATO, Russia Exchange Barbs Reminiscent of Cold War Days (Original Post) inanna Mar 2015 OP
Yep, I think it's pretty clear what Putin is about! n/t RKP5637 Mar 2015 #1
It's pretty clear what EVERYBODY'S about... elias49 Mar 2015 #3
Yep, and it's pathetic, all the way around, everyone. n/t RKP5637 Mar 2015 #5
Comrade Major Putin is a VERY dangerous man. n/t ColesCountyDem Mar 2015 #2
NATO needs to be dissolved. DeSwiss Mar 2015 #4
They are surrounding our bases... awoke_in_2003 Mar 2015 #9
You do have to wonder - Why continue the language at this time, when the minsk accords seem to be newthinking Mar 2015 #12
Yeah, no it doesn't. NuclearDem Mar 2015 #13
You forgot the sarcasm thingy! Elmer S. E. Dump Mar 2015 #14
yeah, let's lay a red carpet for Russian tanks on the borders. LOL uhnope Mar 2015 #15
Post removed Post removed Mar 2015 #6
.... DeSwiss Mar 2015 #7
Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Kosovo ... how many of them would qualify as a failed state ? jakeXT Mar 2015 #8
Unsurprising Joe Johns Mar 2015 #10
Well, duh, of course we view Russia as we did the Soviet Union. geek tragedy Mar 2015 #11
 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
4. NATO needs to be dissolved.
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 06:03 PM
Mar 2015
- Now.

K&R



''A good soldier is a blind, heartless, soulless, murderous machine. He is not a man. He is not ever a brute, for brutes only kill in self-defense. All that is human in him, all that is divine in him, all that constitutes the man, has been sworn away when he took the enlistment oath. His mind, conscience, aye, his very soul, are in the keeping of his officer. No man can fall lower than a soldier--it is a depth beneath which we cannot go.''

~Jack London

newthinking

(3,982 posts)
12. You do have to wonder - Why continue the language at this time, when the minsk accords seem to be
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 09:39 PM
Mar 2015

working. Isn't it a good time to encourage everyone to calm down. Especially if they want to work back to a federalized, but united Ukraine?

There is only one reason that Kiev does not want a setup like we have in the US with States: They are in a cunundrum.

Federalization means 2 things:

1. Kiev is not so firmly in control and they won't be able to intimidate the population

2. Once things simmer down and the East votes, the Kiev regime will get voted OUT. They people in power were always extreme and a minority. They could never win elections honestly.

Response to inanna (Original post)

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)
8. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Kosovo ... how many of them would qualify as a failed state ?
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 07:38 PM
Mar 2015
Vershbow, the alliance's deputy secretary-general, told a conference in Latvia that President Vladimir Putin's "aim seems to be to turn Ukraine into a failed state
 

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)
11. Well, duh, of course we view Russia as we did the Soviet Union.
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 09:07 PM
Mar 2015

It's the same old, same old, whether it's President Putin, Premier Kruschev, or Tsar Nicholas.

Russia derives its national sense of self-esteem from being able to invade and dominate and rule over surrounding smaller countries. And it chafes their ass to no small degree that countries like Estonia can thumb their nose at Moscow instead of bowing and scraping.

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