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    Thery can talk (and talk...and talk)! Archived Message

    Posted by Gerard on March 15, 2019, 10:10 am, in reply to "Re: Brexit: Beware: It’s All Starting to Stink of Something Else"

    ..Yes we are being foolish (but only up to a point!), eschewing the populist posturing let's look at the lunacy that is the wider European adventure and the federalists responsible for it! Tusk and others feel able to take the moral high ground but such does not I'm afraid belong to such Napoleons, The populism of "Brexit" was given fire by a wider Europe no longer fit for purpose, we must stop the blame game both internally and externally if only so that we are able to truly address the issues which must now be of primary concern to both these islands and the continent.

    "Donald Trump has waded in to this debate recently by voicing his support for NATO and coming out against the formation of a, "European Army" Tweeting; "Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two - How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!" Unfortunately for both Macron and Merkel; "a house divided against itself cannot stand" and both will have problems forming a European force whilst the Wider Europe dominates the agenda, the Wider Europe is NATO's Europe, Trump is simply reasserting the U.S State Dept.'s interests in the region and demonstrating the true nature of the NATO-ised agenda. I am forced to admit to a certain amount of wishful thinking on my part concerning the withdrawal of NATO from the European Theatre (and "drama" it certainly is now-a-days if not actual soap-opera), but as I am not (and never have been), in favour of the expansion of the European Union I see no interest in continued adherence to the NATO-ised narrative, Macron and Merkel are, however, hoisted by their own petard with regard to this issue as both will find that if they don't embrace the notion of the formation of an Eastern European Union ("EEU"), the removal of the parasite that is NATO will prove very difficult indeed.
    Putin's involvement in the funding and promotion of separatist and nationalist groups is designed to weaken NATO's power-base but an EEU would undermine this strategy and lend credence to more moderate patriots (whose voices should be heard), within the Eastern European states who do not feel that it is necessary to resort to fascism in order to protect their ethnic identities.

    Quote; "The biting words represent an escalation of the attack Trump made on Friday in which he said Macron had been “very insulting” by suggesting Europe needed its own army to protect itself against the US, China and Russia. Trump appeared to be conflating, however, Macron’s desire to strengthen Europe’s military forces – an ambition Trump himself has demanded as he seeks to reduce US contributions to Nato – and comments made by the French president in a radio interview about the threat of cyber-hacking from other countries including the US.
    Guy Verhofstadt, the chief representative for the European parliament on Brexit, shot back at Trump.
    “What Trump doesn’t seem to realize is that without French money, the USA would not even exist as France financed the American revolution. They even gave you the Statue of Liberty to celebrate this!” Verhofstadt tweeted.
    Trump has also been riled by Macron’s warning on Sunday, at a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war, about the thrust of global politics. Macron, clearly with Trump partly in mind, denounced those who embrace nationalism and put “our interests first”, adding that “our demons are resurfacing”.
    In a rally in Houston, Texas in the final days of this month’s US midterm elections, Trump called himself a “nationalist”. One of his mantras throughout his political rise has been “America first”.
    On Tuesday morning, the president’s tweetstorm continued. He said Macron was suffering low approval ratings while France suffers from high unemployment, then added: “By the way, there is no country more Nationalist than France…”
    He finished the sequence by taunting, in capitals: "MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!" Go to: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/trump-macron-eu-army-german-second-world-war for full article.

    “MAKE FRANCE GREAT AGAIN!” is a taunt Trump can make precisely because France is such a vacillating economic and political vassal state. Germany too is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea but it is a situation of her own making, when one dances with that devil one must wait for the piper to stop before doing so one's self and until Germany admits (esp. to herself), her deep involvement with both the U.S State Dept. and NATO (and esp. concerning the ignition of the Yugoslavian conflagration), she will always be caught in a Janusian position unable to act because the contradictions of her fostering of the Wider European Adventure and her wish that the E.U be independent militarily cancel each other out.


    Quote; "The picture of the German Chancellor and her French counterpart in Compiègne, jointly
    marking the centennial of the Armistice that ended World War One, has made headlines – and must have left a mark on Merkel.
    Recalling the lessons of the First World War and the divisions that led to the conflict, Merkel in Strasbourg endorsed the idea of a common European defence concept, clearer than she has done ever before.
    “We should work on a vision of one day establishing a real, true European army,” Merkel told MEPs during her speech, drawing applause – and booing – in the chamber.
    Although Merkel left open how such a step could materialise in practice, she backed the forming of a European rapid reaction force and a common arms acquisition policy. According to a previous French proposal, a small group of states could go forward and build up a powerful intervention force for crisis operations, for example in Africa.
    Echoing Macron’s catch-phrase of a “European army”, she also made a huge step towards Paris. Only last week, the French president argued for more European strategic autonomy when urging that the EU should be able “to protect itself with respect to China, Russia and even the United States.”"..
    "Although her position represents a trend of Europeans answering calls by US and NATO to enhance their capabilities, Merkel clarified: “This is not an army against NATO, it can be a good complement to NATO.”* Go to: https://www.euractiv.com/section/future-eu/news/in-strasbourg-merkel-brings-european-army-one-step-further/
    for full article.

    *Italics mine. This exemplifies the double-think Merkel has always indulged when it comes to Germany's position in Europe; "Ah chancellor it was ever thus but surely if one learns from history one does not repeat the mistakes of the past!"

    Also see; "Don't forget Yugoslavia" go to: http://johnpilger.com/articles/don-t-forget-yugoslavia & "GERMAN AND U.S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BALKANS: A CAREFUL COINCIDENCE OF NATIONAL POLICIES?" go to: http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/carr/carr.html" http://www.arafel.co.uk/2018/09/thepopularvotegiving-people-real-choice.html

    Let us remember that there's been no real intimation that Brexit has in any way reduced NATO's influence over any of us!

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