Pat Buchanan at TownHall
When the U.S. created NATO, a primary purpose of the alliance was to serve as a western wall to defend Germany against the 400,000 Russian troops on the eastern side of the Elbe River.
Seventy years later, Germany has decided to double its dependence on Vladimir Putin's Russia for the natural gas needed to run the German economy, despite the opposition of her great protector, the USA.
The Biden administration decided to waive sanctions on Matthias Warnig, the ally of Putin whose company, Nord Stream 2 AG, is laying the pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany that is now 95% complete.
When done, Nord Stream 2 will make Moscow Germany's principal supplier of natural gas, and cut Kyiv out of hundreds of millions in transit fees it annually receives for letting Russian gas pass through Ukraine to Germany.
Modern Robber, ahem, Cossacks?
...Ukraine is stunned and outraged. Its parliament, the Rada, has passed a resolution urging Congress to "use all available tools provided by US law to completely and irreversibly stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by applying blocking sanctions against all participants in this Russian geopolitical project."
What about all the money we gave to Hunter!?
Why did Biden and Blinken fold? Was it to set the table for the Biden's June summit with Putin?
The decisive factor was probably that Nord Stream 2 is just about complete and America's principal continental ally, Germany, is wholly committed to the project. Prime Minister Angela Merkel, who is leaving office this year, approved the deal with Putin's Russia and her legacy is now tied to its completion.
...Germany's dependence on Russian gas is certain to grow as Berlin, as it plans to do, phases out its coal and nuclear power plants.
This raises a question about NATO, and the commitment of its 30 members to treat an attack against one as an attack against all.
Would a Germany that is doubling its dependency on Russia for the natural gas that fuels its economy be willing to go to war against that same Russia, and send German troops to fight alongside NATO?
Would Berlin be willing to declare war on its own gas station?
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