tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post2796124656363846395..comments2024-03-29T17:12:19.648+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: A Killing Joke: Halford Mackinder's Last LaughChris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-24927723044824313592015-03-01T18:15:08.808+13:002015-03-01T18:15:08.808+13:00Robert, if you think that status as an "ally&...Robert, if you think that status as an "ally" would guarantee American intervention in the Ukraine, I have a bridge I need to sell you. America will act in its interests. If those interests say that Ukraine should be defended, and that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then they'll do it. If not not. Being an ally of the US is not necessarily a positive thing.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-53044650474564288482015-03-01T14:53:39.134+13:002015-03-01T14:53:39.134+13:00Ukraine was never granted Nato membership, and lik...Ukraine was never granted Nato membership, and like NZ is has no security guarantee from the US. The lack of Nato membership and the probable unthinkable stupidity of attempting to aid Ukraine with arms and men, is why Obama has not offered any military assistance. The American administration has in fact pointed out that the Ukraine is not an ally and neither are we. On his last visit the Admiral in command of the US Pacific Command said ANZUS in relation to NZ, was not dormant but dead and could not be restored.<br /> In terms of the Ukraine, East Ukraine, Crimea, Donestsk and Malipoul was the industrial and naval heartland of the old Soviet Union. Any serious attempt to revive Russian Naval and Military capabilities depend on regaining it. The reason that Putin was put into power in the first place is he shared that understanding with the old past Soviet leadership.<br /> At Yalta Churchill effectively ceded Poland and Hungary to the Soviets.<br /> My own view is that it is a mistake to offer arms to the Ukraine unless Putin advances on Kiev and we should only fight as in 1939 if Poland is invaded.<br />Tragic as it is, the Ukraine must be accepted as in the Russian sphere unless you want to fight for the next 500 years.Robert Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30679475230637919122015-02-28T23:44:48.654+13:002015-02-28T23:44:48.654+13:00@aj.....it all made sense until the last sentence....@aj.....it all made sense until the last sentence.<br />pathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08727942156598555852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-2084475519331204862015-02-28T22:18:40.322+13:002015-02-28T22:18:40.322+13:00A must read. Scary.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2...A must read. Scary.<br /><br />http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/02/25/the-cold-war-and-ukraine/<br /><br />'William R. Polk was a member of the Policy Planning Council of the State Department during the Kennedy Administration and is a historian, who specializes in the Middle East'ajnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-30060173675576419792015-02-28T11:58:11.658+13:002015-02-28T11:58:11.658+13:00I have recently been reading Kissingers "Worl...I have recently been reading Kissingers "World Order". I have always regarded Kissinger in the same league as Hitler as a war criminal, that however does not stop him being a remarkable historian. I heard him talk on the Cuban missile crisis years back, he made the honest point of stating that the US had "first strike" missile silos on the Turkish Soviet border, and the real Soviet push for the same in Cuba was to have the Turkish silos removed. This happened quietly and discretely, Kennedy was seen as "victorious" over Kruschev, the Soviet "loser" got what he wanted all along.<br /><br />It would seem that the Americans were playing a hawkish game in the 60s and got pulled up, only to forget the lesson. Their current Ukrainian foray reeks of imperial hubris.<br /><br />There is a school of thought about NATO, an organisation that lost its reason to exist when the Wall came down. Such bodies have a life of their own, and refuse to die. They are a cancer that will create trouble anywhere merely to continue to live. This is the natural habitat for parasites and hawks.Niick Jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-22053999557247468612015-02-28T08:39:46.537+13:002015-02-28T08:39:46.537+13:00Really running around like chooks with their heads...Really running around like chooks with their heads cut off.peteswriteplacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04474922953916383101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-76682653501833693932015-02-27T18:18:49.891+13:002015-02-27T18:18:49.891+13:00This rates as one of your best essays. Thank you ...This rates as one of your best essays. Thank you for putting in words what I have been thinking for the past six months. Russia's far east needs the food from their western parts to keep those parts which are frozen for seven months of the year, alive. Those Russians from east of the Urrals will be fighting for their lives. Barack Obama must rein in those dickwit warmongers amongst his advisers.<br />Please do not consider me a left wing stooge. I'm an Act Party activist.<br />But, an Act Party activist who, on occasions, has huge respect for Trotter's writing.<br />And, Chris, when are you going to do a follow up to "No Left Turn"?Tauhei Nottshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523429382970107699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-79256042426359699342015-02-27T11:49:04.171+13:002015-02-27T11:49:04.171+13:00Mackinder was wrong of course. I don't think t...Mackinder was wrong of course. I don't think there is any particular patch of dirt these days that enables people to control the world. There might have been in the 19th century, but even then I ha'e ma doots :-). I suspect that anyone with nuclear weapons who is prepared to use them might be a candidate. But that's something I'd rather not see tested.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-34673352900361004232015-02-27T10:45:06.485+13:002015-02-27T10:45:06.485+13:00I was expecting you to do a post on the passing of...I was expecting you to do a post on the passing of Dame Thea Muldoon. unaha-closphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11385104004764358415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-22285122508675051902015-02-27T10:20:47.400+13:002015-02-27T10:20:47.400+13:00Ready for Nuclear War over Ukraine?
Robert Parry ...Ready for Nuclear War over Ukraine?<br /><br />Robert Parry reports:<br /><br />https://consortiumnews.com/2015/02/23/ready-for-nuclear-war-over-ukraine/Brewerstroupehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13011600547966200031noreply@blogger.com