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About NATO

Updated on

As of 6/24/22, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports 4677 deaths and 5829 injuries of Ukrainian civilians; and 5.2 million of refugees defined as people registered for temporary protection programs in Europe.

From 6/28 to 6/30/22, NATO held a summit of its 30 member states in Madrid, Spain.  The published agenda includes:  deterrence and defense, support of Ukraine and other parties at risk, a new NATO strategic concept.  Rallies are held in protest all over the Global North with the call “STOP THE WEAPONS, STOP THE WAR, STOP NATO.”

So, what is NATO?

Surely you are well acquainted with all the official definitions.  Here, we present two different perspectives gleaned from a webinar organized by CodePink on on 6/21/22 and titled “NATO: What’s wrong with it?

LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPzcIRapy04&list=PLbIEXcAZ-4ZaK4oJWKiT_qDl-y1k_ebr7

Ajanu Baraka is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and founder of the Black Alliance for Peace; he defines NATO as “…the military and material means for how the US and the Europeans are able to project their power across the planet”.  He explains that he became aware of the covert NATO goals when, as a young military recruit in Germany in the 1970s, he witnessed the training of Portuguese pilots actively involved in the brutal repression of the independence movements in the Portuguese African colonies.

Colonel Ann Wright is retired from the US Army Colonel and State Department; she resigned in protest on the eve of the Iraq war.  She tells us of NATO’s involvement in the Rim of the Pacific Naval Military Maneuvers; of the 26 Pacific participating countries, 8 are NATO members.  The maneuvers use nuclear submarines, B52 bombers, and Reaper assassin drones in their exercises of blowing up missiles, sinking ships, and amphibious missions to ambush enemies.  They also kill large numbers of cetaceans, turtles, and much more…

Here are two trivia questions for you:

  1. Name two countries, not in the North Atlantic or Europe, where NATO was deployed.

  2. How many military bases does the USA maintain around the world?

    1. < 100
    2. Between 100-200
    3. Between 500-900

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