EDITOR, The Tribune.
There is a letter in February 28’s Tribune which refers to “hopefully the end of NATO”. To say the letter is naive in the understanding of world affairs is an understatement, it’s also grossly untrue and disingenuous.
To understand NATO and its role you have to study the historical context as to why NATO was formed. After the end of the second world war the USSR was a major threat to world peace. They had a tyrant and despot by the name of Joe Stalin as the Premier. Democracy in the USSR, like now in Russia, did Not exist. No one knows how many of his countrymen Stalin had exterminated - it ranges from six to nine million. Putin is of the same ilk as Stalin. His opponents, whether in Russia or overseas, tend to die or simply disappear. Putin is a former officer in the KGB Russia’s secret service. He longs for the glory days of the old USSR and would like to expand Russia borders westwards. He has absolute power in Russia and the old adage is true “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
NATO was formed in 1949 specifically for three reasons. One to deter expansionism of the USSR, two to forbid the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe which Caused WW2, third to encourage European political unity (the European Union). The second and third reason was to prevent European countries going to war with each other and it succeeded brilliantly! Remember both WW’s started in Europe.
Without NATO Stalin’s relentless march westwards would have continued. He annexed a number of countries by shear aggression which became part of the USSR. Ukraine was one of them. When the USSR disintegrated as All totalitarian regimes eventually do all these countries became independent countries again. Ukrainians got their identities back as sovereign citizens of Ukraine.
Putin is unstable and showing signs of paranoia and possible descent into lunacy. He has access to just under 6000 atomic weapons which could wipe out the world. His chilling message recently aired basically stated he will use them if he feels threatened.
NATO has been a post war success story we have had relative peace with no major wars since its formation in 1949. That is 71 years without a world war. We still have wars throughout the globe but these compared to world wars are skirmishes.
Now because of his paranoia and expansionism Putin has put at risk this relative peace and prosperity throughout the globe.
If he captures Ukraine and his forces carry on westward say into the Balkans the threat of a world war is very, very serious. A full on nuclear world war could wipe out billions of people and our whole way of life would be transformed.
NATO is there to protect the west and our civilization from dictators/mad men such as Putin and long may it reign.
When letters refer to history research is essential, not shooting from the hip.
THE REALIST
Nassau,
March 6, 2022.
Comments
Proguing 2 years, 2 months ago
Hmmm I just had a quick look in Wikipedia and this is what I found:
1994 NATO bombing intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1995 NATO bombing intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia as part of the Kosovo war
2007 NATO bombing of Helmand province
2010 NATO bombing of Tarok Kolache
2011 NATO bombing campaign in Libya
2011 NATO bombing of Bab al-Azizia
NATO sure seems to be dropping a lot of bombs around the world to protect ‘the west and our civilization”. But I get it, NATO bombs are for the good of humanity and Putin’s bombs are evil.
LastManStanding 2 years, 2 months ago
Good advice that this writer should himself heed. Comparing Putin to Stalin is a massive stretch and illustrates the historical ignorance of this writer. Let me know when Putin plans a mass starvation genocide or opens up the gulags again. You can say that you don't like Putin, but emotions are clearly clouding the judgement of whoever wrote this.
To imply that the Cold War never came to a head because of NATO is simply false as well. We have never had WWIII break out due to the principle of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The notion that the world has been at peace since 1949 is simple false as well. The Korean War broke out in the 50s, not mentioning the First Indochina War or the Malaysian Emergency what also happened around the same time period that the author specified. This is just around the nearby timeperiod, I'm not even going into other conflicts in later decades. The only reasons that Western European nations did not kill each other off was a.) they were too broke b.) nations like France and W. Germany were devastated enough already and c.) the threat of communism was dominant at the time. It is also worth noting that France got pissed and withdrew from NATO at one point in time as well. As the poster above mentioned, NATO created war in Yugoslavia the minute that the USSR collapsed as well. Libya is a disaster to this day and is currently a Russia-Turkey proxy war. NATO is just as imperialist as the British Empire, the USSR, or any great power that came before it.
Putin simply wants his borders secure; at the heart of any nation is the notion of self-preservation. Russia got duped into believing that NATO would not expand after the collapse of the USSR and woke up in 2004 when they took in the Baltic states. Taking in former Warsaw Pact nations like Poland or Romania were a slight provocation, but taking in former Soviet republics like the Baltic ones were a red line for Russia. Putin was not in a position to challenge the West then as he was still trying to right the country from Yelstin's "shock therapy". 20 years later, Russia is a lot more modernized.
Once again, this is a complex issue that maybe only 1% of people in the West truly understand. Watching CNN and NBC does not count as "research", nor do mainstream outlets provide any background on this situation. You have to go back 30 years to get an accurate picture of what is happening in Eastern Europe, and even then most of these conflicts are centuries old.
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