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Winken Blinken Says Ukraine ‘WILL Become a Member of NATO’ – HotAir

This is not a good thing and surely not right now, guys.

Holy smokes – what’s WWIII between friends and an enemy or two?

Once upon a time, when he still had a partially functioning cerebral cortex, POTATUS thought it was a bad idea, too. And he might have actually come up with that thought himself, instead of being told he’d thought it.

But time marches on, and so do ideological agendas. POTATUS and crew will forge ahead, wisdom, consequences, and the wishes of the American public be damned.

Sen. Mike Lee wrote a really good piece just about a month ago on why the continued emphasis on bringing Ukraine into NATO is so fraught with terrible consequences and very few benefits for anyone but the Ukrainian regime.

Marking the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proclaimed that “Ukraine will join NATO…. It is not a question of if, but when.” Fortunately for the United States, the admission of Ukraine into NATO cannot be forced upon us by the unilateral dicta of global elites. Nevertheless, Stoltenberg’s shocking display of hubris and blatant disregard for sovereignty reminds us exactly why a nation should not be added to the NATO alliance without weighing the risks.  

Historically, decisions to expand the alliance in the backyard of a nuclear-armed adversary is a dangerous game of chicken. Despite what the Biden administration and the foreign policy establishment would claim, Russia’s decision to pursue military objectives in Ukraine was due in large part to the prospect of further NATO expansion for both Ukraine and Georgia, a redline that Vladimir Putin drew as far back as 2008. Rather than taking such warnings seriously, the U.S. and European capitals continued to beat the drum of expansion by touting the foolish desires of the “rules-based international order” above realism. Western allies have gone so far as to keep the option of allied troops deploying into Ukraine on the table. Believing the Kremlin will simply accept such provocations is folly.

Although its recent behavior would suggest otherwise, NATO is not a social club. At its inception, NATO is a military alliance rooted in shared security interests in the transatlantic area of responsibility. NATO is not a catch-all, feel-good get-together of democratically inclined nations. Admittance is not a stamp of global approval or a reward for good behavior—a framework antithetical to a military alliance. In fact, at this point, the alliance neither needs nor should seek additional members to achieve its stated “defensive” aims. We should consider new members only when they bring demonstrable and credible hard power, promote greater burden sharing across existing member states, and conceivably reduce the chances of sending allied troops into war. This is the only standard by which collective defense may work. 

Ukraine is incompatible as a member on all fronts. What strategic value would Ukraine bring to the alliance? But for the goodwill of international donors, Ukraine would still be operating with Soviet-era weaponry and bygone military doctrine. 

So much for credible hard power or meaningful burden sharing.

As my friend Steve Green points out, NATO also doesn’t import wars.

…The lesser reason is that Kyiv is just too corrupt. The country in no way measures up to Western standards for admission to NATO. (Neither does Turkey, but they’re grandfathered in by the geopolitical necessities of 1949.)

Here’s the big reason: NATO does not import wars. Period.

Moldova can’t join NATO, as much as it’d like to, because of a never-ending, low-level conflict with separatist Russian colonists. Georgia would love to join, too, but it’s been unofficially at war since at least 2008. Ukraine is in the same situation — and was even before 2014 — but on a much grander scale.

NATO does not import wars. A country must be fully at peace with itself and its neighbors before admission can even be considered. But there’s Antony Blinken and the rest of the NATO foreign ministers blithely and dangerously talking about bringing wartorn Ukraine into the alliance.

It’s madness.

With these blithering, blundering idiots, what could go wrong? 

Only everything. It’s not like everything’s going so great right now and most of that can be laid entirely at their two Leftist feet.

There’s also another sketchier reason for this sudden public push that I hadn’t thought about, and it makes the whole charade really kind of revolting.

The purported reasoning behind it comes down to one word, and I’m sure you’ll never guess what that might be. Or maybe you’re so used to hearing him blamed, your brain  automatically fills in the blank.

You betcha – this might all be because of TRUMP.

…NATO countries gave the go-ahead to work on the plan Wednesday, but there still remain many questions over financing and how far the alliance is willing to go to thrash it out before a summit in Washington in July. 

The move is designed in part to guard against any cut in U.S. support if Trump returns to the White House, with Stoltenberg saying it would ‘shield the mechanism (of providing aid to Ukraine) against the winds of political change’.

‘I do not believe in America alone, just as I don’t believe in Europe alone,’ Stoltenberg said at the ceremony at NATO’s Brussels headquarters today.

‘I believe in America and Europe together in NATO, because, fundamentally, we are stronger and safer together.’

In a bid to stave off Trump’s criticisms, NATO has showcased increased spending by its European allies – with 20 members this year set to hit a target of two percent of GDP for defence.

‘North America also needs Europe,’ Stoltenberg said, after a Belgian military band played the NATO anthem.

‘Through NATO, the United States has more friends and more allies than any other major power.’

He’s not even president, but is there anything the man can’t affect?! If he doesn’t directly affect it, is there anything he can’t be used as an excuse for?

TRUMP MADE US DO IT

That is true power, my friends. 

Just the possibility of that man returning to office literally has the world’s powers that be quakin. Leaders are desperately shuffling the deck chairs, trying to foil him.

Although, hello – how do they know they haven’t booked us on the Titanic instead of the QEII?

And I’ll bet you dollars to donuts; not a one of them has checked for flashlights or life preservers before shoving off.



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