--===============4182240373838040791==
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<div>Well said, Daniel! My feelings exactly!<br>-------------------- =
<br><br>From: "Weslake1330 via Spridgets" <spridgets@autox.team.net> =
<br>Reply-To: "Weslake1330" <weslake1330@gmail.com> <br>To: =
"Spridgets" <spridgets@autox.team.net> <br>Sent: March 20, 2026 at =
6:44 AM EDT <br>Subject: [Spridgets] Iran, NATO and Europe - obviously no =
LBC </div>
<div>Hi List,
<div> </div>
<div>I wanted to post some =
thoughts on Iran, NATO and Europe that simply aren't being reported on=
national news, as far as I can tell, whose reporters seem to have no idea =
of analysis or wider impacts.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The news isn't saying much about how much help Iran has had and =
continues to have from Russia and China, the latter especially. I =
believe that Iran is an evil regime supported (English phrase: aided and =
abetted) over decades by Russia and China. I have heard that Chinese =
technicians aiding Iran firing missiles have been killed. So if =
America decides to attack Iran that's ok by me in a broad sense. Iran=
with nuclear weapons would be a disaster for the world.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>NATO is about defence and its membership agreement =
makes that clear. NATO is not a force multiplier to call upon when a =
member's aggression needs some backup. Yes, the USA puts more money =
into NATO than any other country and arguably it has had the most back.=
Europe provided the buffer for the USA against the USSR and I guess =
that was a price the USA decided was worth paying. Well times change =
and the USSR not longer exists but former members are a threat. The =
flipside to the coin that isn't discussed is not whether all the NATO =
countries need to spend more (and a couple do) but could America spend less=
?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>America has stated that China rather that =
Russia are the real threats and attacking Iran weakens China considerably =
though news commentators aren't saying so. America seems to continue =
to be well disposed to Mr Putin and Russia and seem to ignore the large =
part of aid Russia has given to Iran. Well I guess it might be in =
America's interest to say little and not state what is close to being =
obvious.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>What makes no sense and is baseless =
criticism is to insult NATO and European countries (who get very little oil=
and gas from Iran) for not answering a call to aid from America. It =
is India, China and other eastern countries who are not going their oil =
from the Gulf, not NATO and European countries. It's also worth =
considering what countries are in NATO. Well Canada is in NATO and so=
is Denmark (who count Greenland as part of its territory) and they have =
good grounds for not rushing to the assistance of the USA. What about=
the European countries in NATO? Well they are still very focused on =
supporting Ukraine and the Arctic where there is still Russian aggression =
and threat - something that America thinks they ought to be doing.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It is never good sense to insult your friends and =
allies, or falsely accuse them. And while you might publicly state =
they aren't helping and are free loaders, the truth and reality is quite =
different. However, spend enough time and energy publicly criticising=
them and there is a real risk you'll discover how much they DID do when =
they decide to do a lot less or nothing for you in the future. Google=
RAF Croughton and see not only how important that is to America but the =
controversy caused by a fatal road accident that made everything connected =
to that site unpopular.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regards</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Daniel S</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
--===============4182240373838040791==
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline
------------------------
spridgets@autox.team.net
Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/spridgets http://autox.team.net/archive
--===============4182240373838040791==--
|