Article

2022-07-23 Europe

Germany's dependence on Russian gas noticed by Washington Post, after paper slammed Trump for same prediction

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Skidmark 2022-07-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11125 views ] Top
File under: Mob Rule

#1 "The Germans just smirked."

Let's be clear: The guy who smirked was Germany's most incompetent foreign minister ever.

Germany wrongly assumed that Russia would never use gas as a weapon. That may have been reasonable until 2014. Then it became obvious that Putin was about to do whatever he wanted to do. We should have reduced dependency by 5% every year and we'd be in the clear now.

But also blame the climate church.

Posted by European Conservative 2022-07-23 07:05|| 2022-07-23 07:05|| Front Page Top

#2 A little correction of the article on Foxnews. Germany never got 66% of its gas from Russia. The high mark was 55% and this has been reduced to currently 35%.

Posted by European Conservative 2022-07-23 07:09|| 2022-07-23 07:09|| Front Page Top

#3 Thanks for the update, EC.

Posted by Skidmark 2022-07-23 07:14|| 2022-07-23 07:14|| Front Page Top

#4 National Grid asks for emergency permission to pump more gas to Europe now so they can hold back sending gas this winter if Putin turns off the taps

Posted by Skidmark 2022-07-23 07:20|| 2022-07-23 07:20|| Front Page Top

#5 I also tend to believe that Putin is playing games but will not reduce gas flow to Germany to zero.

If he does he can forget about any meaningful trade with Germany for the next 10 years or more. And he needs Germany much more than he acknowledges. Much of the Russian energy industry is dependent on German technology. Next year he will painfully feel it.

Germany expects to reduce Russian gas to 10% by summer 2024.

Posted by European Conservative 2022-07-23 07:20|| 2022-07-23 07:20|| Front Page Top

#6 I concur with EC's para one above. The Russians specialize in threats and intimidation. Why would Putin push the Germans toward western energy reliance?

Posted by Besoeker 2022-07-23 07:54|| 2022-07-23 07:54|| Front Page Top

#7 Western purchases of grain, LNG, oil, titanium, aluminum, uranium fuel for reactors etc. are funding the SMO in Ukraine. The West is effectively funding both sides in the war. As the saying goes - don’t correct your opponent when they are making a mistake

Posted by Slenter Panda4300 2022-07-23 08:26|| 2022-07-23 08:26|| Front Page Top

#8 It was all Germans who were smirking at us. Remember how useless NATO was? It only functioned to start wars in the Middle East and Africa which just flooded Europe with refugees. NATO is just for protecting US interests and preserving its hegemony. The US just wanted to control Europe.

Europeans are highly skeptical of any use of force as well as the notion of permanent conflict. It is no longer the Europe of Napoleon and Bismarck, much less that of Plato and Thucydides. Instead, as Robert Kagan pointed out in his ingenious 2003 work Of Paradise and Power, it is the Europe of Immanuel Kant. Traumatized by the hideous experiences of the 20th century, Europeans have adopted a postmodern and posthistorical view that military force is unnecessary—immoral, even—in a world where problems ought to be resolved through the rule of law. This is the root of the disgust and smirking contempt for America and Americans, especially our military.

And for what? To defend a continent whose politicians and body politic *sneers* at us, over and over again for being bullies, for being warlike, for being the 'World's Police', and then *berates us* when we think it's time to look at whether or not nations are actually contributing.

Posted by Tiny Jeater6933 2022-07-23 09:10|| 2022-07-23 09:10|| Front Page Top

#9 Your trash is a much more subtle and higher quality than Aca Joe's.

Posted by Skidmark 2022-07-23 11:51|| 2022-07-23 11:51|| Front Page Top

#10 ^ Sorta like a turd after it splashes in the blue water in a Port-a-John...

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-07-23 11:53|| 2022-07-23 11:53|| Front Page Top

#11 You know its a long week when that is an improvement.

Just the Middle East and Africa...tsk tsk.

Posted by swksvolFF 2022-07-23 12:07|| 2022-07-23 12:07|| Front Page Top

#12 Robert Kagan would know. He was one of handbasket weavers. Still is. Wasn't he DoS in the 80s, those ingenious golden years?

But yes, much better than Aca Joe.

The Europe of Thucydides? Wow.

Posted by Dron66046 2022-07-23 12:30|| 2022-07-23 12:30|| Front Page Top

#13 Europeans have adopted a postmodern and posthistorical view that military force is unnecessary—immoral,

Not at all. That's just the taxpayer, the fool sitting in a governorate thinking 'Europe is my great supracountry'. The rulers simply discovered proxy warfare is safer and cheaper. And if they can get others to pay for even that, even better.

Posted by Dron66046 2022-07-23 12:36|| 2022-07-23 12:36|| Front Page Top

20:51 CrazyFool
19:49 NN2N1
19:45 NN2N1
19:17 Lowspark
18:18 Besoeker
18:16 Besoeker
18:15 Skidmark
18:14 Skidmark
18:06 Matt
17:59 SteveS
17:43 Matt
17:35 Lampedusa Flump8920
17:34 Lampedusa Flump8920
17:31 M. Murcek
17:19 Dron66046
17:10 M. Murcek
17:10 Dron66046
16:54 M. Murcek
16:48 Procopius2k
16:45 swksvolFF
16:45 Lampedusa Flump8920
16:44 Abu Uluque
16:43 Secret Master
16:43 M. Murcek