Russia: The Stroock Plan

It is with great sadness that we told our KGB handler in the Kremlin that our relationship is over. We loved colluding with Russia. We did love it so. So much so that by our count we've published 100 articles with Inforos/Infobrics. Click here to see them all. In fact, click here to see our very first piece at Inforos:

With the USSR long gone pushing NATO even further east is a pointless provocation. Those advocating for expanding to Russia’s border forget NATO’s mission, stated clearly in the alliance’s name, North Atlantic Treaty Organization; North Atlantic. NATO links western Europe to North America with Great Britain as the physical and cultural bridge between the two. From Nord Kapp, to the North Sea and down to the Greenland, Iceland United Kingdom Gap NATO protects the Atlantic crossings. The Baltics, Ukraine and Georgia have nothing to do with the Atlantic and should have nothing to do with NATO. Today most American troops are gone from Europe and NATO’s once fine, professional militaries have shriveled. Why poke the Bear?

We knew what we were doing, da. We wrote something we believed. We wrote something that we thought we could get in print with those recidivist commies. Ninety-nine articles later we stand by what we wrote in 2019. Why poke the bear? Look closely at the first vowel in NATO. A is for Atlantic. To be clear, America has no national interest in Ukraine. None whatsoever. We won't die for Donbass.

What should the West have done? The West should have realized that Russia has interests too. Russia has red lines. Russia has pride. The West should have told Putin, 'Fine. You promise not to invade Ukraine, we'll promise not to expand NATO further.' Da? Da.

And the West should have been tougher and clearer. That is, the West should have said to Putin, 'Here are every one of the sanctions we will impose if you invade Ukraine. Here's every one of the weapons we'll send to Ukraine if you do invade. Here's a rundown of the massive NATO fleet exercise we'll hold in the Barents Sea just to piss you off.'* 

What should the West do now? Sanction the Russians all you want. Cutoff Moscow's ability to finance its debt. Kick the Ruskis out of SWIFT. Throw them out of the Olympics and any other international sports org you can think of. Move to expel them from the UN**. Invite Sweden and Finland to join NATO. But remember one thing. Russians don't think like us in the West. As an Indian neighbor who lived in Moscow for several years once told us, 'Russians look like Europeans but think like Asians.' They don't care. 

*NATO used to do that in the 80's.

**Putin chairs the Security Council right now, which is a sick joke.