Zelensky - what possessed you?

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Never heard of Putler. You have lost it. Random comments with no bearing to the real world. Hitler controlled 12 nations after 3 years. Putin gained 11% of Ukraine. Your comparison is embarrassing. Hitler had the no 1 army in the world. Russia worse than top 10 1:1. 

Had Hitler left the generals to get on with it, it's likely they would have won in Russia and D Day would not have succeeded, but he kept interfering and ultimately lost the war for Germany. Eg he would not let the army retreat from Russia while it could, which meant it was lost.

[Lacessit]

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

but apparently not for Britain, which did get left behind post war, and still had to repay the US for the goodies during the war. Did Germany have to repay all the US $ that it got post war?

Seems it's more advantageous to be a defeated enemy of the US than a friend during the war.

Perhaps you are old enough to remember the Peter Sellers film, "The Mouse That Roared".

[cdnvic]

Since my last public warning to stop the personal attacks that were ruining an otherwise interesting discussion, six members who ignored it have been silenced. When we ask politely to not insult and flame others, we mean it.

 

To the rest of you who are moving the discussion forward in a civil manner, you have our thanks. 

[LosLobo]

11 hours ago, TedG said:

Among the many statutes related to NATO is Section 1250A of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (2024 NDAA), which prohibits the President from withdrawing the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty without the approval of the Senate or statutory authorization

11 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The last time I looked, Republicans terrified of Trump were a Senate majority.

Section 1250A of the 2024 NDAA requires that any withdrawal from NATO must get a two‐thirds Senate vote. Realistically, Trump wouldn’t get the needed support from Democrats. One possible way for him to exit NATO would be to bypass constitutional checks—essentially staging another coup and crowning himself King.

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, LosLobo said:

Section 1250A of the 2024 NDAA requires that any withdrawal from NATO must get a two‐thirds Senate vote. Realistically, Trump wouldn’t get the needed support from Democrats. One possible way for him to exit NATO would be to bypass constitutional checks—essentially staging another coup and crowning himself King.

Or he can stay in NATO, and drag his feet when push gets to shove.

 

He certainly wants the same dictatorial powers as Putin or Kim.

[Patong2021]

14 hours ago, LosLobo said:

Section 1250A of the 2024 NDAA requires that any withdrawal from NATO must get a two‐thirds Senate vote. Realistically, Trump wouldn’t get the needed support from Democrats. One possible way for him to exit NATO would be to bypass constitutional checks—essentially staging another coup and crowning himself King.

 

35 Senate seats are up for election in 2026. There is a strong likelihood that that the Democrats will hold their seats, including the tossups in Georgia and Maine and flip 2 or more Republican seats. 

 

All 435 Congressional Districts will be up for election and  the Democrats need to pick up only 3 seats. The DOGE campaign is hitting some districts who went  Republican in 2024 hard. Places like Bucks county, or VA's 10th district have large numbers of laid off  federal workers. Farm belt USA will soon see the impact of the cuts and the tariffs. The best is yet to come once military bases are closed.

 

By 2026, it will be a somewhat different political landscape in the USA and MAGA will most likely be seeing some significant loss of  influence in the House. Trump might become a very lame duck president.

 

[MicroB]

14 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Or he can stay in NATO, and drag his feet when push gets to shove.

 

He certainly wants the same dictatorial powers as Putin or Kim.

 

This is the reality. Article 5 doesn't compel  any action, just a consideration for action. There has already been preparation put in place for non-cooperation. The US might withold its contribution to the Cost share arrangements for civil budget, military budget and NATO Security Investment Programme, which is currently 15.8%, the same as Germany.

 

https://www.nato.int/cps/uk/natohq/topics_67655.htm?selectedLocale=en

 

This will have some impact on the ability of NATO to react to a sudden attack, for instance, a major terrorist attack in New York or Washington. It will impact airborne early warning systems. I think there is a direct impact on the NATO shared units, such as CBRNe response. In other words, NATO will be slower to respond to a chemical, nuclear, biological or radiological attack.