Well, for starters, there's this pic of Anders Fogh Rasmussen:
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Secretary General of NATO
Perhaps not Rasmussen's proudest moment; covered in red paint by a protester in Copenhagen, in 2003.
However, there's nothing wrong with a bit of cyber satire involving political figures...and it's quite topical.
In today's headlines:
NATO Chief Says Russia Still Trying to Destabilize Ukraine
Anders Fogh Rasmussen Says Western Allies Must Bolster Defense of Europe
Updated July 8, 2014 6:35 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The leader of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Tuesday that Russia is continuing to try to destabilize Ukraine, including through a new military buildup on its border, and that Western allies must push forward on efforts to bolster the defense of Europe.Anders Fogh Rasmussen, secretary-general of the military alliance, said that even though Kiev has gained the advantage in a fight against separatists, the alliance must make increased investments in its own military response force and create a "more visible" military presence in Eastern Europe.Russia hasn't overtly responded to the Ukrainian counteroffensive in eastern Ukraine. But Mr. Rasmussen said that Russia throughout the crisis has periodically made moves aimed at reducing Western pressure while continuing to quietly foment instability."Whenever the international community puts more pressure on Russia, they take some tactical steps that will defuse the international response, then after a while, they continue covert activities to destabilize the situation," Mr. Rasmussen said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.Since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, the U.S. and other NATO members moved to increase deployments of small units of ground forces and aircraft squadrons to Eastern European nations. Mr. Rasmussen said those efforts must continue and, potentially, expand.At a planned summit of NATO leaders set for September in Wales, the alliance will discuss efforts to improve its reinforcement of member states. Mr. Rasmussen said there needs to be more investment in defense infrastructure, including designating bases that would receive reinforcements and pre-positioned equipment.
He also said the alliance must invest in intelligence capabilities and improve the NATO Response Force, a multinational crisis response unit that is supposed to be quickly deployed on a range of missions. Mr. Rasmussen said he wanted to see more European contributions to the force and stepped-up deployments of the U.S. units assigned to it.He said the force also needs to create elite units that could remain ready to deploy to trouble spots or reinforce defenses in a matter of hours."We need to make it more responsive," he said. "What I could envisage is to develop what I call a spearhead for the NATO response force at high alert."Speaking after a meeting with President Barack Obama Tuesday, Mr. Rasmussen outlined what he saw as a continuing threat to Europe by Russian aggression. NATO's stance toward Russia must change because Moscow's attitude to the alliance has shifted, Mr. Rasmussen said."Russia considers NATO not as a partner but as an adversary," Mr. Rasmussen said. "If you study Russian military documents and doctrine you will see that they point to NATO as an adversary and a potential threat. Of course, we have to take those words seriously." [Hello, it's NATO that's lined up troops & it's US troops on European soil as of 25/04/2014.]But Mr. Rasmussen said he doesn't favor renouncing the 1997 Founding Act signed between the Alliance and Russia. The agreement, which states NATO and Russia won't use force against each other, remains in the interest of the alliance, he said.Under the 1997 agreement, NATO said it wouldn't permanently station additional combat forces in Europe. The collective defense of NATO allies, Mr. Rasmussen said, can be strengthened without violating that agreement. [I would suggest that 600 troops is a violation]"I have no doubt we will need a more visible NATO presence in the east than we have seen in the past," Mr. Rasmussen said. [Again, he wants a troops build-up.]President Obama has pledged $1 billion to shore up European defense, but NATO officials are looking for additional spending from other alliance members. [US is sinking $1b..and NATO wants more. That doesn't bode well for the Russians or the 'Founding Act'.]Investments in the NATO response force and improvements in military infrastructure will require increased spending, and leaders of the alliance have struggled to get most European nations to meet its target for defense budgets of 2% of gross domestic product. [Money...]Mr. Rasmussen said that Russia's aggression was a wake-up call for the alliance, and has prodded some governments to "move in the right direction" on military spending. But he noted that after the last five years, Moscow has increased its military spending by 50% while NATO spending has been reduced by 20%. [What aggression is that, exactly?]
Russia's actions have caused a re-evaluation of NATO membership in some countries that train with the alliance but aren't full members, like Sweden and Finland. No, US-NATO machinations are the cause of this obvious rally to wage war in Europe.]Mr. Rasmussen, a former prime minister of Demark, said while he would n't interfere in domestic debates inside Sweden or Finland, noted the alliance has a "well-developed partnership" with the two countries. [So they want Sweden & Finland under the US-NATO 'wing', as well ... but they're playing coy?]
"There is no doubt if Sweden and Finland should decide to apply for membership, they qualify and the accession talks would be easy and short," he said. [So is this a done deal?]
http://online.wsj.com/articles/nato-chief-says-russia-still-trying-to-destabilize-ukraine-1404857700?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304642804580017684219573298.html
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What Russian aggression?All we are hearing is Rasmussen's (and obviously Obama's) 'need' for this & 'need' for that.
Russia's within the confines of its borders, but they are not.
What they are doing is painting Russia as the aggressor while they themselves step up US military presence & military spending, war training & rallying etc. -- on European soil.
But that's the beauty of the US, EU and NATO relationship. LOL.
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