Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
Actually I’d argue that Europe and Biden’s White House saw it as a useful buffer zone between Poland and Russia. Trump sees it as he sees everything - a business opportunity and/or an opportunity for narcissistic supply (to the extent he can prove himself to Putin, whom he admires) and, now the problem has proven to be more complex than his limited intellect assumed, a risk of narcissistic injury.
I’m aware there is an argument that Trump is being awfully clever and simply trying to get Europe to pay its way. Maybe he is, but if so, that again is a function of his lack of intellect and not his skills at 4D chess. He is emboldening the Russians, who this week have started opining that they don’t think any sort of cease-fire is necessary. (Note also, at the exact same time Ukraine seems to have convinced the Americans that a peace plan preceded by a 30-day cease fire actually is a good idea, a Russian-captained vessel manages to bullseye an American tanker full of USAF jet fuel off the English North Sea coast - I’m blessed to know a number of current and former members of HM armed forces and absolutely none of them think this is a coincidence).
As to whether there is an active threat to NATO from Russia, well, while Trump, whether recklessly or due to some perceived master plan, is making such love to the Russians with his grand promises of getting them the Donbas, Crimea and who knows what else, arguably yes there very much is. I leave you in the capable hands of Mike Martin MP, former squaddie and current member of multiple relevant Parliamentary committees, who has just returned from a fact-finding visit to Estonia.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...424157861.html
It is well worth reading the whole thing. |
The problem is if you ask nurses they say we need to spend more on healthcare, you ask teachers they say education, you ask the military industrial complex and they say defence. Scaremongering stories about what could happen elsewhere ignore that the Ukraine issue (Russian narratives or otherwise) was a decade in the making.
The short story, while an entertaining read, seems to ignore that it’s not the absence of troops or equipment preventing intervention - it’s not having an independent foreign policy from the United States (Article 5 or otherwise).
I don’t think there’s anything 4D chess about straightforward extortion. Trump could have picked up the idea from countless TV movies about “the mob”.