NATO Union is now degenerating into a crumbling mess at Best!
Turkey Switching Trains Climbing on to Moscow Express,
While keeping a Toe Hold as one of Daniel’ 10 Toes,
Following Revelation Dragon as far as it Goes,
As one of its horns Turks will be Exposed,
NATO compromise with Russia Grows!
Revelation 12:3 –And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The Western World thought dialog and diplomacy with Adolph Hitler’s National Socialistic Party would end in a peaceful solution in the late thirties of the previous century, and was the best way to achieve it. But dialog and diplomacy was taken as a sign of weakness and fear, which led to World War II, and the Nazi methodology of solving “the Jewish problem.”
The Western World thinks dialog and diplomacy with Russia and Islamic Radical nations will end in a peaceful solution in the early teens of this century. But to the Russians and Islam it is taken as a sign of weakness and fear, which will lead to the final war of the Age of the Gentiles, and the attempt by Islam to solve “the Jewish problem.”
The two excerpts from the Asia Times, and the International Herald Tribune, point out the decline of NATO’s power it is losing by compromise in substituting dialog and diplomacy for a show of force and resolve.
March 5, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Begin Excerpt from Asia Times via World News
Turkey hops aboard Russia’s ride
By F William Engdahl
March 4, 2009
Despite the impact of the rouble’ s in
stability and weak oil prices on the Russian economy in recent months , Moscow is pursuing a very active foreign policy
strategy. Its elements focus on countering the continuing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) encirclement policy of Washington, with often clever diplomatic initiatives on its Eurasian periphery. Taking advantage of the cool relations between Washington and longtime NATO ally Turkey, Moscow recently invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to come to Russia on a four-day state visit to discuss a wide array of economic and political issues.
In addition to siding up to Turkey, which offers a vital transit route for natural gas to Western Europe, Russia is also working to firm an economic space with Belarus and other former Soviet republics to firm its alliances. Moscow delivered a major blow to the US military encirclement strategy in Central Asia when it succeeded
last month in convincing Kyrgyzstan, with the help of major financial aid, to cancel US military airbase rights at Manas, a site of great importance to Washington’s escalation plans in Afghanistan.
In short, Moscow is demonstrating it is far from out of the new “Great Game” where influence over Eurasia is concerned.
Turkey’s government, led by Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, has shown increasing impatience with not only Washington policies in the Middle East, but also the refusal of the European Union to seriously consider Turkey’s bid to join. So it’s only natural that Turkey would seek some counterweight to what it has perceived as overwhelming US influence in Turkish pol
itics since the Cold War. And Russia’s leaders have no problems opening such a dialogue, much to Washington’s dismay.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a four-day visit to the Russian Federation from February 12 to 15, where he met with President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and also travelled to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, where he discussed joint investments. Gul was accompanied by his state minister responsible for foreign trade and minister of energy, Hilmi Guler, as well as a large delegation of Turkish businessmen. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan joined the delegation.
Visit to Tatarstan
The fact that Gul’s Moscow visit also included a stop in Tatarstan, the largest autonomous republic in the Russian Federation, whose population mainly consists of Muslim Tatar Turks, is a sign of just how much relations between Ankara and Moscow have improved in recent months as Turkey cooled to Washington’s foreign policy. In previous years, Moscow was convinced that Turkey was trying to establish Pan-Turanism in the Caucasus, Central Asia and inside the Russian Federation. Today, Turkish relations with Turk entities inside the Russian Federation are clearly no longer considered suspicious, confirming a new mood of mutual trust.
Indicating the value Moscow now attaches to Turkey, Russia elevated Gul’s trip from the previously announced status of an “official visit” to a “state visit”, the highest level of state protocol. Gul and Medvedev also signed a joint declaration announcing their commitment to deepening mutual friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation. The declaration mirrored a previous “Joint Declaration on the Intensification of Friendship and Multidimensional Partnership”, which was signed during a 2004 visit by then-president Putin.
Turkish-Russian economic ties have greatly expanded over the past decade, with trade volumes reaching US$32 billion in 2008, making Russia Turkey’s biggest trade partner. Given this background, bilateral economic ties were a major item on Gul’s agenda and both leaders expressed their satisfaction with
the growing commerce between their countries.
Cooperation in energy is the major issue. Turkey’s gas and oil imports from Russia account for most of the trade volume. According to Russian press reports, indicate that the two sides are interested in improving cooperation in energy transportation lines carrying Russian g as to European markets through Turkey, a project known
as Blue Stream-2.
Previously Ankara had been cool to the proposal but the recent completion of the Russian Blue Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea increased Turkey’s dependence on Russian natural gas from 66% up to 80%. Furthermore, Russia is beginning to see Turkey as a transit country for its energy resources rather than simply an export market, due to the significance of Blue Stream-2.
Russia is also eager to play a major role in Turkey’s attempts to diversify its energy sources. A Russian-led consortium won the tender for the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear plant recently, but as the price offered for electricity was above world prices, the future of the project, which is awaiting parliamentary approval, remains unclear. Prior to Gul’s Moscow trip, the Russian consortium submitted a revised offer, reducing the price by 30%. If this revision is found legal under the tender rules, the positive mood during Gul’s trip may indicate the Turkish government is ready to give the go-ahead for the project.
Russia’s market also plays a major role for Turkish overseas investments and exports. Russia is one of the main customers for Turkish construction firms and a major destination for Turkish exports. Similarly, millions of Russian tourists bring significant revenues to Turkey every year.
Importantly, Turkey and Russia may start to use the Turkish lira and the Russian rouble in foreign trade, which could increase Turkish exports to Russia, as well as weaken dependence on dollar mediation.
Post-Cold War tensions reduced
However, the main reason for Gul’s visit was to develop stronger political ties between the two. Both leaders repeated the position that, as the two major powers in the area, cooperation between Russia and Turkey was essential to regional peace and stability. That marked a dramatic change from the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Washington encouraged Ankara to move into historically Ottoman regions of the former Soviet Union to counter Russia’s influence.
Then, in sharp contrast to the tranquility of the Cold War era, talk of regional rivalries, revived ‘Great Games’ in Eurasia and confrontations in the Caucasus and Central Asia were common. Turkey, as in the 19th century, was becoming once more Russia’s natural geopolitical rival. Turkey’s quasi-alliance with Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Georgia until recently led Moscow to view Ankara as a formidable rival. The regional military balance developed in favor of Turkey in the Black Sea and the Southern Caucasus. And after the disintegration of the USSR, the Black Sea became a de facto “NATO lake”. As Russia and Ukraine argued over the division of the Black Sea fleet and status of Sevastopol, the Black Sea became an area for NATO’S Partnership for Peace exercises.
By contrast, at the end of the latest Moscow visit, Gul declared, “Russia and Turkey are neighboring countries that are developing their relations on the basis of mutual confidence. I hope this visit will in turn give a new character to our relations.” Russia praised Turkey’s diplomatic initiatives in the region.
Medvedev commended Turkey’s actions during the Russian-Georgian war last summer and Turkey’s subsequent proposal for the establishment of a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform (CSCP). The Russian president said the Georgia crisis had shown their ability to deal with such problems on their own without the involvement of outside powers, meaning Washington.
Turkey had proposed the CSCP, bypassing Washington and not seeking transatlantic consensus on Russia. Since then, Turkey has indicated its intent to follow a more independent foreign policy.
Russia aims to use its economic resources to counter the growing NATO encirclement, made more severe by Washington’s decision to place missile and radar bases in Poland and the Czech Republic aimed at Moscow. To date the Obama administration has indicated it will continue the Bush “missile defense” policy. Washington also just agreed to place US Patriot missiles in Poland, clearly not aimed at Germany, but at Russia.
Following Gul’s visit, Medvedev will go to Turkey to follow up the issues with concrete cooperation proposals. The Turkish-Russian cooperation is a further indication of how the once overwhelming US influence in Eurasia has been eroded by the events of recent US foreign policy in the region.
Washington is waking up to find it is now confronted with Sir Halford Mackinder’s “worst nightmare”. Mackinder, the “father” of 20th century British geopolitics, stressed the importance of Britain (and after 1945, the US) preventing strategic cooperation among the great powers of Eurasia.
F William Engdahl is author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order (Pluto Press) and Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation (www.globalresearch.ca ). His new book, Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order (Third Millennium Press) is doe for release in late spring 2009. He may be reached via his website: www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net .
Begin Excerpt from International Herald Tribune
NATO agrees to revive Russia relations
By Mark Landler
Thursday, March 5, 2009
BRUSSELS: Prodded by the Obama administration, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed on Thursday to resume high-level consultations with Russia, six months after they had been suspended following Moscow’s military offensive against Georgia in August.
The decision came at a meeting of foreign ministers from NATO countries that served as a debut for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton called for a “fresh start” with Russia, even though Washington refuses to recognize two breakaway Georgian territories that prompted the war.
“It is time to move ahead, not wait in place with illusion that things will change on their own” Clinton said in a speech to the ministers. “It is time for realism, as well as hope.”
Clinton said there were areas in which NATO and Russia could work together, including Afghanistan, fighting the drug trade and confronting nuclear proliferation, particularly in Iran and North Korea.
On Afghanistan, Clinton proposed holding a major conference on March 31 involving the regional players and convened by the United Nations. It was not immediately clear whether Iran would be invited to attend the meeting, though Clinton told reporters Wednesday that Iran, as a neighbor, had a role to play in the stabilization of Afghanistan.
“We hope that this meeting could provide an opportunity to reach a common set of principles,” Clinton said.
The United States, which has called for a “reset” in relations between the United States and Russia, worked to achieve a consensus among NATO members on resuming talks with Russia. American diplomats persuaded Lithuania, the last holdout among NATO members, to go along rather than demand further debate at a NATO summit in early April.
The NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said the resumption of high-level consultations did not mean that the alliance would drop its objections to Russia’s plan to build military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two breakaway territories.
“It’s not a fair-weather forum, and the weather is certainly not fair,” de Hoop Scheffer said, referring to the NATO-Russia Council.
De Hoop Scheffer declined to comment on Obama’s proposal to President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia that the United States drop its deployment of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Russia agreed to cooperate in the campaign against Iran’s nuclear program.
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