doc just loggin on
checkin in
Was remembering the algae block at Epstein Island and how it could be explained by mingling of salt and fresh water
Just pokin around
Turkey Indicts Reigning NATO Policy
Turkey isn’t a great ally. Today, there are even fears that if America did sanction Turkey, Turkey could target U.S. troops in Syria. Should a country like that still be in NATO?
But this isn’t just about Turkey. Many policymakers view NATO as a magic, democracy-spreading pony—if potential members have problems, NATO membership will help them sort those problems out.
Thus, highly corrupt Montenegro, which has nothing to add to the United States strategically, was added to NATO in 2017. One senator even called another senator a traitor in league with Russia for questioning Montenegro’s accession. And in 2019, North Macedonia is getting closer to joining.
Turkey shows that NATO can’t fix other countries, and NATO expansion won’t fix the problems in Macedonia and Montenegro. But it will cause NATO to lose focus and weaken, bringing a larger set of interests into an organization that requires consensus, and increase the likelihood of a confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.
Turkey is also a perfect example as to why NATO is not a substitute for diplomacy. Alliances must be self-interested and should change with shifts in geopolitical reality. But after the Soviet Union fell—the single most significant strategic shift after World War II—NATO continued as-is, and even doubled down on its mission of countering a much-diminished Russia.
https://thefederalist.com/2019/08/01/turkey-case-study-whats-wrong-nato/
Lots of theories running around so this making energy caught my eye, neat article to read
o7
MOSCOW, August 2. /TASS/. Russia hopes that Turkey will fully implement within the next 24 hours the agreements on the withdrawal of militants and weapons from the Idlib de-escalation zone in response to the Syrian government’s initiative to cease hostilities in the area, Major General Alexey Bakin, the chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Friday.
"Pursuing the aim of stabilizing the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic and in support of the Astana international meeting on Syria, which is underway in the city of Nur-Sultan, Syria’s President Bashar Assad decided to completely cease fire and any offensives in the Idlib de-escalation zone starting from midnight on August 2, 2019," Bakin said.
"In response to the Syrian initiative, Turkey is expected to implement in the next 24 hours in full the provisions of the Sochi agreements stipulating that militants and weapons should be withdrawn from the demilitarized zone, shelling should be stopped and the Damascus-Aleppo road should be unblocked," he added.
Bakin recalled that in breach of the ceasefire, illegal armed groups opened fire on the settlement of Qardahah in Latakia province at 06.55am Moscow time. The settlement is known as the home town of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s family and is located 14 kilometers north of the Russian air base Hmeymim.
https://tass.com/world/1071743
be great if you do one more
still scanning the news
eyez on
saw my nic so though i should chime in early, catchin up
o7