Thirty Years of NATO Failures

 The fact is that NATO comes to its 75th Anniversary more fractured than ever as a result of 30 years of failures since the former Soviet Union collapsed in 1989-1991. It should have been dismantled since its "enemy" was no longer.

Scott Taylor, writing on June 26 for espritdecorps.ca of the private dinner hosted by the NATO Association of Canada for NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, pointed out:

"In addition to Stoltenberg using the occasion to browbeat the Canadian government into spending more on national defence, the attendees gathered to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the military alliance. The original Charter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was signed on April 4, 1949 by the original 12 members, of which Canada was proud to be among."

Taylor asks "just what milestones exactly" would "Stoltenberg and the NATO groupies making merry at the 75th anniversary celebration last week" be celebrating? He writes:

"Well in 1999 NATO violated international law by bombing Serbia for 78 days. After an unexpected stubborn resistance by the Serbs, that tiny country finally submitted to the NATO alliance.

"Although it was not until 2008 that the disputed province of Kosovo declared itself an independent state, the desired result of NATO redrawing the map of Europe through military force remains a political mess. Kosovo still does not have full status at the UN as 89 of 193 member nations still recognize Kosovo as the sovereign territory of Serbia.

"Within the European Union there are five member states blocking Kosovo from membership for the same reason. In a recent article on Kosovo, Matthew Karnitschnig of Politico wrote: 'Put simply, even after decades of American aid and support, the country remains an economic and political basket case.'

"The article also outlined that Kosovo has one of the lowest per-capita GDP's in Europe, a poverty rate of over 20 per cent, and is plagued by corruption and political turmoil.

"So, not much to celebrate there. In September 2001, in the wake of 9-11 all NATO members heeded U.S. President George Bush's invocation of Article 5 of the NATO Charter. While possibly reassuring to the U.S. public, almost every UN member also agree to be an ally in the War against Terror. So no biggie.

"Then there was the Afghanistan fiasco. NATO troops, including Canadians, fought for more than a decade in that country. The end result was a failure in 2021 when the Taliban took over. Better to forget that one.

"In 2011 NATO took the lead role in fulfilling United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 which called for a no-fly zone over the skies of Libya. The NATO generals promptly empowered themselves to bomb the bejeezus out of President Muammar Gaddaffi's loyalist forces. After 10 months of aerial bombardment the various rebel factions succeeded in murdering Gaddaffi.

"However the fractious rebel forces immediately began fighting each other and Libya was plunged into a bloody anarchy that continues to this day. So not really worthy of a Victory Parade, but nonetheless Canada staged a full ceremony with flypast on Parliament Hill to celebrate NATO's defeat of Libya.

"In 2018 NATO agreed to assist the U.S. coalition in Iraq. While the NATO flag may still fly over some heavily guarded Green Zone buildings in Baghdad, the alliance has no more chance of a successful exit from Iraq than we did with Afghanistan."

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This article was published in

Volume 54 Number 40 - July 8, 2024

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/MS54405.HTM

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