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| Europe |
| Merkel Flips Off Biden's Protest – to Buy Putin's Gas |
| 2021-05-25 |
| Pat Buchanan at TownHall When the U.S. created NATO, a primary purpose of the alliance was to serve as a western wall to defend Germany against the 400,000 Russian troops on the eastern side of the Elbe River. Seventy years later, Germany has decided to double its dependence on Vladimir Putin's Russia for the natural gas needed to run the German economy, despite the opposition of her great protector, the USA. The Biden administration decided to waive sanctions on Matthias Warnig, the ally of Putin whose company, Nord Stream 2 AG, is laying the pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany that is now 95% complete. When done, Nord Stream 2 will make Moscow Germany's principal supplier of natural gas, and cut Kyiv out of hundreds of millions in transit fees it annually receives for letting Russian gas pass through Ukraine to Germany. Modern Robber, ahem, Cossacks? ...Ukraine is stunned and outraged. Its parliament, the Rada, has passed a resolution urging Congress to "use all available tools provided by US law to completely and irreversibly stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by applying blocking sanctions against all participants in this Russian geopolitical project." What about all the money we gave to Hunter!? Why did Biden and Blinken fold? Was it to set the table for the Biden's June summit with Putin? The decisive factor was probably that Nord Stream 2 is just about complete and America's principal continental ally, Germany, is wholly committed to the project. Prime Minister Angela Merkel, who is leaving office this year, approved the deal with Putin's Russia and her legacy is now tied to its completion. ...Germany's dependence on Russian gas is certain to grow as Berlin, as it plans to do, phases out its coal and nuclear power plants. This raises a question about NATO, and the commitment of its 30 members to treat an attack against one as an attack against all. Would a Germany that is doubling its dependency on Russia for the natural gas that fuels its economy be willing to go to war against that same Russia, and send German troops to fight alongside NATO? Would Berlin be willing to declare war on its own gas station? |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #12 If you have a reason to put sanctions on a company, that reason doesn't go away just because Merkel wants gas. (a) And if your reason was money paid by Ukrainians to Hunter? (b) Since you can't stop Nord Stream 2, why be an a$$hole. IMO, takes a lot of backbone to admit you were wrong. p.s. Didn't you all admire Trump for admitting that Nation Building in Iraq & Afghanistan is waste of time, money, and lives? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-05-25 16:28 |
| #11 If we didn't have a reason to sanction Mr. Warnig, then why did we? Did somebody get their panties in a bunch about something Putin did or is Warnig just as corrupt as that Burisma guy? I guess we have Pat Buchanan to thank for leaving us in the dark on that one. Either way, Biden has no backbone. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-05-25 15:57 |
| #10 That's not the point either, grom. The point is: If you have a reason to put sanctions on a company, that reason doesn't go away just because Merkel wants gas. I don't give a rat's ass about Nord Stream 2 AG or Ukraine or Putin or Merkel. I just want a president who acts on principal instead of expedience. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-05-25 15:51 |
| #9 Admitting that one was wrong, rather than becoming involved in a pointless fight - there is no American national interest in letting Ukraine collect hundreds of millions in transit fees over gas to the production of which they contributed nothing - is not a sign of a lack of backbone. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-05-25 13:57 |
| #8 The story here is not the gas, it's Biden's utter lack of backbone. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-05-25 13:24 |
| #7 I think ye'll missing a point here. It's the same gas - only now it's not going through Ukraine. That's all. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2021-05-25 13:06 |
| #6 Could be that Merkel is like the rest of us wondering who's really calling the shots in Washington these days and what the hell they might do next. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2021-05-25 12:52 |
| #5 declare war war with russia war on russia Seriously, what planet are people still trying to live on? There are no balls left for this game. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2021-05-25 12:23 |
| #4 When Trump was president, eurines like Mutti could cast their actions as anti-Trump. Now they can go back to just being generically anti-American. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2021-05-25 12:13 |
| #3 where is the commentor who was telling me that Biden has so much pull the other day? |
| Posted by: Chris 2021-05-25 11:39 |
| #2 Why did Biden and Blinken fold? Because it's what they do? |
| Posted by: Tom 2021-05-25 10:13 |
| #1 2018: The cause of US withdrawal enjoys significant support from everyone in Germany. They think the Yanks can't leave soon enough. "They shouldn’t be allowed to fight their battles with Russia here. Far from ensuring Europe’s security, Uncle Sam is much more likely to draw it into a war." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/us-troops-germany-public-opinion-pull-out-nato-summit-merkel-a8442021.html |
| Posted by: Sheger Thromotch7944 2021-05-25 04:58 |