Is it just me, or does that seem like the title of every Tucker Carlson video for the last couple of years?

I don’t know about that… but there is something really wrong.

All sorts of things are wrong.

Seems about right. Hell, let's bump it up to $100B.

https://hotair.com/ed-morrisse...ine-invasion-n469235

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday spoke with his Russian counterpart, the first such conversation between the two officials since the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine began in February, according to the Pentagon.

Austin spoke with Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu by phone, where the Pentagon chief “urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication,” the Defense Department said in a statement.

A senior defense official later told reporters that the call was initiated by Austin and lasted about an hour, with the tone characterized as “professional.”

It’s the first contact between the two since February 18, almost exactly three months ago

Finland is days away from putting NATO forces within 150 miles of its strategic sub port of Murmansk and less than 100 miles from St. Petersburg.

All 30 Nato members have to approve any new nations joining Nato. (Turkey may put a kink in the system to get a few billion dollars of U.S. taxpayer's money) Just a speculation on my part.

Turkey's Leader Opposes Letting Finland, Sweden Join NATO

https://www.usnews.com/news/wo...and-sweden-join-nato

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that his country is “not favorable” toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO, indicating Turkey could use its membership in the Western military alliance to veto moves to admit the two countries.

“We are following developments concerning Sweden and Finland, but we are not of a favorable opinion,” Erdogan told reporters.

The Turkish leader explained his opposition by citing Sweden and other Scandinavian countries’ alleged support for Kurdish militants and others whom Turkey considers to be terrorists.

He said he also did not want to repeat Turkey's past “mistake” from when it agreed to readmit Greece into NATO's military wing in 1980. He claimed the action had allowed Greece “to take an attitude against Turkey" with NATO's backing.

Erdogan did not say outright that he would block any accession attempts by the two Nordic nations. However, NATO makes all its decisions by consensus, meaning that each of the 30 member countries has a potential veto over who can join.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to meet his NATO counterparts, including the Turkish foreign minister, this weekend in Germany.

My bet is that Turkey will come around. I'll also bet some backroom dealing will be done to accommodate Turkey's vote.

Yep, Bidet will give planes full of money, whereas President Trump would have told Turkey:

What difference does it make who they let in - the US pays for everything for the most part?
Why wouldn't everybody and their brother want it so we can defend the world?

quote:

Originally posted by 2PAK:
My bet is that Turkey will come around. I'll also bet some backroom dealing will be done to accommodate Turkey's vote.

It'll likely involve them asking for their purchase of F-35's.

Biden and Erdogan do not like each other, as in hate each other. At any other time in history during crises, NATO members would be looking to the US for leadership and the US POTUS to step-in and start getting things done...not this one.

Turkey has already defied NATO in 2019 when they bought Russian S400 missile systems.

NATO member Turkey takes delivery of Russian S-400 missile defense system

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/w...ile-defense-n1029146

Turkey took its first shipment of an advanced Russian missile defense system Friday, ignoring repeated warnings from Washington and fueling concerns about where the country's loyalties lie between the West and Moscow.

Turkey is reportedly paying some $2 billion for Russia's S-400, which is among the most advanced and feared air defense systems in the world.

The "first batch" of components were delivered to the Murted Air Base outside the capital, Ankara, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement, and more parts would be delivered "in the coming days," Turkey's Defense Industry Directorate added.

"The S-400 anti-aircraft missile system is the newest air defense system and is designed to defeat a wide range of modern and prospective air attack weapons," the Russian defense ministry said.

The deal is the first of its kind between a NATO member and Russia, and risks a showdown with the United States.

Turkey has been a NATO member since 1952. It boasts the alliance's largest number of troops after the U.S., with more personnel than France and the United Kingdom combined, according to NATO figures.

Ankara has ordered around 30 of the F-35 stealth fighter jets that Washington hopes will form the alliance's aerial backbone. Turkey has also helped manufacture parts for the jet and its pilots have been running training flights at an air base in Arizona.

However, the U.S. and other industry analysts warn that the S-400 is incompatible with NATO's systems.

More worrying from Washington's perspective is if the Russian missile system and the American jets are deployed on the same soil, the S-400 could learn how to track the stealth F-35 and perhaps even target its vulnerabilities.

I didn’t know Sweden wasn’t a NATO member; that was surprising to me. Biden seems determined to go to war with Russia, why else—-with Russia in the Ukraine, having expressed strong opposition to having NATO on their doorstep, would we be making overtures to Finland and Sweden about membership at this time. It’s beyond my comprehension.

Isn't finland and Sweden joining NATO now kinda like rushing to buy home insurance with a wildfire surrounding your house or like buying flood insurance right before a cat 5 hurricane hits? And you haven't even made a single monthly payment yet!

Finland is THE real key here, geographically speaking. They directly border Russia and a whole host of key Russian military tactical assets/locations... Probably the last thing Putin wants, historically speaking.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin ‘very ill’ with blood cancer: secret recording

https://nypost.com/2022/05/14/...campaign=android_nyp

Sweden has long been officially neutral. As I recall there were incidents in which US bombers “inadvertently” landed there and the crews were interned for the duration. “Oh, golly, that means we can’t continue risking our lives flying missions over Germany and will have to spend the rest of the war here. Shucky darn!” During WWII it was a major supplier of iron ore to Germany. As long as the Swedes were willing to sell the ore to Germany, Hitler saw no reason to add the country to his scalp belt, but when Britain decided that they should do something about that situation, that led to Germany’s actions against Norway to keep the British from interfering with the ore shipments.

I am less knowledgeable about Finland’s status as a neutral, but they have long had to be very cautious in their dealings with Russia regardless of what the latter’s political guise was at the time. During the USSR’s land grabs following its nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany in 1939, the Soviets actually invaded Finland in the so-called “Winter War.” Although the Finns put up an unexpectedly fierce defense (à la Ukraine today), they ultimately had to agree to the loss of territory to the Reds. I suspect that caution led them to avoid too-close ties with western Europe and the US for a long time, but as the countries that tried to placate Hitler discovered, more often than not appeasement of the “Here, you can eat my right leg, as long as you promise to not eat the rest of me” sort is seldom successful in the long run.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I didn’t know Sweden wasn’t a NATO member; that was surprising to me. Biden seems determined to go to war with Russia, why else—-with Russia in the Ukraine, having expressed strong opposition to having NATO on their doorstep, would we be making overtures to Finland and Sweden about membership at this time. It’s beyond my comprehension.

Sweden is a close cooperative parter with NATO, it's robust weapons industry (AT4, Carl Gustav, Gripen, Bofors cannons, etc) is a major asset they bring to the table, as is their economy in general. Finland, has one of the largest artillery forces in Europe, however like the rest of the Baltic's, their asset is geographic leverage, over manpower.

While these countries are clamoring for an alliance where a 'big-brother' can come help them out when crises is at their doorstep, I think the better move would be for these countries to develop and expand the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO), which they already belong to, and have that be the tie to NATO versus full-membership.

^^^ That doesn't bring them under the nuclear umbrella, which has long been an important way convince Russia not to start any fighting at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Isn't finland and Sweden joining NATO now kinda like rushing to buy home insurance with a wildfire surrounding your house or like buying flood insurance right before a cat 5 hurricane hits? And you haven't even made a single monthly payment yet!

Sweden and Finland remained neutral through the Cold War because doing so (they thought, at least) helped keep the peace. Both countries have been involved in NATO exercises for years and (especially Sweden) have numerous ties with NATO countries. Now it's become clear that NATO membership for both countries is a better way to deter Russian aggression.

It honestly seems strange to be angry about their joining when they and NATO have managed the threat of Russian hostility together for several decades.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
US bombers "inadvertently" landed there

[STERLINGARCHER]Seriously, no one remembers Orr from Catch-22?[/STERLINGARCHER]

Angry? Hardly. I couldn't care less if they join or not. I was only asking a legitimate question about them joining NATO right when it seems very likely they might get into a conflict with Russia.

Well, international events do tend to drive changes in international relationships. I think its also worth considering that they're pursuing NATO membership despite Putin's having threatened them for doing so.