{"id":89139,"date":"2017-03-27T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=89139"},"modified":"2017-03-22T18:46:25","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T18:46:25","slug":"nato-logic-british-troops-in-estonia-good-russian-soldiers-in-russia-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/03\/nato-logic-british-troops-in-estonia-good-russian-soldiers-in-russia-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO Logic: British Troops in Estonia, Good. Russian Soldiers in Russia, Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"
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British soldiers arrive at Amari military air base in Estonia March 17, 2017.
\u00a9 Ints Kalnins \/ Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

20 Mar 2017 – <\/em>Supporters of NATO believe American, British and German soldiers being sent to Russia’s borders is “defensive.” But the Kremlin’s counter moves are aggressive. This delusion could be dangerous.<\/p>\n

George Bernard Shaw was probably second only to William Shakespeare among English-language dramatists. In 1914, he was one of the most famous people in Europe. The Irishman\u2019s play, Pygmalion, had been a massive success in Berlin, London, and Vienna. As a result, newspapers, and magazines were lining up to publish his journalism.<\/p>\n

Until he started to reject the conventional wisdom which presented the nascent war between Britain and Germany as a noble cause, that is. In an interview with the American journalist, Mary Boyle O\u2019Reilly he held the two sides were equally culpable for the conflict, and suggested how \u201cthe soldiers should shoot their officers and go home<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of a sudden, work dried up, and he found himself blacklisted in the mainstream media. Thus, he used The New Statesman<\/a>, a new journal in which he held a substantial shareholding, to publish<\/a> his now legendary \u201cCommon Sense about the War<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

His thoughts were mostly prescient. Especially when pointing out how \u201cFrance and England have to live with Germany after the war, and to cripple Germany by exactions and humiliations would be a serious mistake<\/em>.\u201d Of course, the failure to heed this warning created the conditions for the rise of Adolf Hitler and an even more dreadful conflict a quarter century later.<\/p>\n

The establishment reaction to his polemic was startling in its venom. Herbert Asquith<\/a>, the Prime Minister\u2019s son, called for Shaw to be shot. Meanwhile, his rival, J. C. Squire wanted him \u201ctarred and feathered<\/em>.\u201d And H.G. Wells and GK Chesterton publicly shunned him.<\/p>\n

The reason for the preamble is to outline how \u201cgroup think<\/em>\u201d can lead to the black-balling of even great minds and the famous. It makes people afraid to stick their head above the parapet, even when they know their conviction to be true. We are seeing it today in Western hysteria about Russia and continuing silence as NATO marches ever close to the country\u2019s frontiers.<\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=q7L-OyP4wkI<\/p>\n

Ostmark von Deutschland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Especially this weekend, as cheerleaders for the Western military club celebrated the deployment of British soldiers to Estonia, far from their homeland. The move follows a German placement to Lithuania<\/a> and America stationing troops in Latvia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The London media greeted the move with suitably aggressive headlines. The Independent went<\/a> \u201cFirst of 800 UK troops arrive in Estonia to face off against Putin as part of NATO show of strength<\/em>.\u201d The Mirror splashed<\/a>: \u201cBritish troops join showdown against Vladimir Putin as they travel to the frontline in Russia<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, despite this jingoism, the US-led club describes all this as a defensive move<\/a>. Which Moscow, given it employs consular staff who study the UK press reaction and rhetoric of its political class, increasingly finds hard to believe. So, the mood in the Kremlin has, somewhat justifiably, shifted to sense a provocation.<\/p>\n

Thus, it was hardly a huge surprise when the German spy chief, Bruno Kahl, announced<\/a> that Russia had apparently doubled its military presence on its Western border. Students of Russian history were especially aware of its people\u2019s paranoia about attacks from that direction. Information surely known to Western governments, unless their diplomats are fast asleep in Moscow.<\/p>\n

Different rules<\/strong><\/p>\n

But what was astonishing was NATO\u2019s response. Der Spiegel reported<\/a> how Kahl suggested that Russia\u2019s alleged move \u201ccan\u2019t be seen as defensive<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Breaking: German intel chief tells @DerSPIEGEL<\/a> that Russia has doubled military on western border. "Threat is up, can't be seen as defense."<\/p>\n

— Lucian Kim (@Lucian_Kim) March 18, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n