17-05-2014, 01:37 AM
Paul Rigby Wrote:Contrary to George H.W. Bush's assurances, President Clinton expanded NATO into the former Warsaw Pact members of the old Soviet Union. What ended the "reset" was Obama's violation of his promise to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya, only to have NATO bomb Libya apart. As Putin explained in a speech before the Duma:
This disregard to rule of law was evident in Yugoslavia in 1999, when NATO bombed the country without a UN Security Council mandate …. There was Afghanistan, Iraq and the perversion of the UNSC resolution on Libya, when instead of imposing a no-fly zone NATO bombed the country into submission. …
"They were cheating us once more, took decisions behind our back, presented us with a fait accompli," he said, adding that the pattern is identical to that which accompanied NATO's expansion to the east, the deployment of an anti-ballistic missile system, visa restrictions and numerous other issues.
"They are constantly trying to corner us in retaliation for our having an independent position, for defending it, for calling things by their names and not being hypocritical," Putin accused. "Everything has its limits, and in Ukraine our western partners crossed the red line."
Its amusing how utterly reasonable This Year's Hitler sounds (and how infantile and trite the people on "our" side so often sound).