Nato summit: George Bush abandoned over Ukraine and Georgia[t]
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GOOD MORNING FLINT! EARLY EDITION
BY Terry Bankert 4/03/08
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NATO Allies Oppose Bush on Georgia and Ukraine

The Nato summit could have serious repercussions for relations
between Europe and Russia. US President George W. Bush believes
membership can be offered to any European democracy, so offers to
Ukraine and Georgia to join are perfectly correct. Even Nato
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer favours the two nations
joining the organisation. Yet there are those who are against the
idea. [g]

A REFLECTION

When in my post as a Municipal Ombudsman On occassion I would
conference with an International Group concerned with Oversight of
Police. At one I was dressed down , politely, by a Canadian
Provincial Ombudsman . The topic was American arrogance and how
little we really know of the world, our neighbors and the
international community. He was of couse right but I did not alter
the egotistical arrogance of my public career. ( I am much humbled in
the private sector.) The following discussion on the NATO Conference
is a case in point. To many this is a really big deal. I did not have
a clue on first impression what was so important. These blogs are to
inform me, share opinion and have a little fun. I learned a little
more about the world, forgive me if it still does not show.[trb]

BUSH FORGOT LINES

President Bush threw theNATO summit meeting here off-script on
Wednesday with his firm public disagreement with two key allies,
Germany and France, over how close a relationship the organization
should have with Ukraine and Georgia, who aspire to membership.[n]
President Bush was being abandoned by his closest allies last night
as his appeal for Ukraine and Georgia to be earmarked for Nato
membership met with opposition from Britain, France and Germany at
the opening of the alliance summit in the Romanian capital. [t]

A LONE VOICE..NATO IS TO MAKE THE WORLD SAFER

Expanding NATO is meant to make the alliance's members safer.
Allowing Skopje to become a NATO member while it claims that Northern
Greece is occupied territory and Alexander the Great was a Skopje
Slav won't really make the Alliance safer. Ukraine and Georgia's
problems are different and their applications should be supported in
the long-run, but in the short-run they should be given help to
achieve internal stability (after all, half of the Ukraine doesn't
want to join NATO, so what's the point of introducing that
instability to the Alliance? Lionel Stokes, Westminster, England[t]

THE RUSKIES FORGED THE SPLIT

Earlier, senior British officials said that the Prime Minister was
pressing for a compromise that would keep the alliance together,
emphasising that the membership action plan was simply a process.
They denied that Moscow had forged a split. [T]

THEY COULD TURN DOWN THE HEAT

...Russia has a couple of moves it can make to underline its dislike
of the concept of the former Soviet satellite states joining Nato.
Namely, as major supplies of energy to the Ukraine and Georgia,
Russia could always turn off its oil and gas supplies to them, as it
has done before when former Soviet states started to "think for
themselves". It comes as a rude awakening to the populace when, in
midwinter, there is no oil or gas to heat the home.[g]

NO MORE KROUGHTS AND FROGS FOR DINNER.

Mr. Bush's position — that Ukraine and Georgia should be welcomed
into a Membership Action Plan, or MAP, that prepares nations for NATO
membership — directly contradicted German and French government
positions stated earlier this week.[n]
A NATO spokesman says he does not expect the bloc to start the
membership process for Georgia and Ukraine at this week's summit in
Bucharest.[v]

IT MUST BE THE CHIPS

Other Nato leaders, including Gordon Brown, thought that it was
premature to put Ukraine and Georgia into the official membership
system, even though it can take ten years before a formal invitation
is made. The British judgment was that although there was full
support for both Ukraine and Georgia, the question of "when" they
joined should remain in the balance. Angela Merkel, the German
Chancellor, and President Sarkozy of France were of the same mind. [T]

BIT OF MORE THAN HE COULD CHEW

American officials at the conference, run by the German Marshall Fund
of the United States, said that any failure to support the action
plan process would be regarded as a concession to Moscow. President
Putin has strongly opposed any move to draw Ukraine and Georgia into
the alliance. President Saakashvili of Georgia has also said that
failure by Nato to offer the prospect of membership would amount to
appeasement of Russia. [T]

NOT MUCH FAITH TO HOLD ON TO

But Mr. Bush was described by one senior American official as wanting
to "lay down a marker" for his legacy as his presidency winds down,
and as not wanting to "lose faith" with the Ukrainian and Georgian
peoples and the other former republics of the Soviet Union.[n]

SUSHI

Mr. Bush, speaking in advance of the meeting, said he was prepared to
argue his case at a dinner of all NATO leaders on Wednesday night,
before a decision is made on Ukraine and Georgia on Thursday. Germany
and France have said they will block any invitation to Ukraine and
Georgia.[n]

ARGUED TO NO AVAIL

Spokesman James Appathurai told reporters after Wednesday night's
working dinner that the allies agreed that the two former Soviet
states will eventually be offered a Membership Action Plan, but he
believes it will not happen this week.[V]

A NICE JESTURE

"This is my final NATO summit," Mr. Bush said. Referring to both
Ukraine and Georgia's democratic revolutions, he said: "Welcoming
them into the Membership Action Plan would send a signal to their
citizens that if they continue on the path to democracy and reform
they will be welcomed into the institutions of Europe. It would send
a signal throughout the region" — read Russia — "that these two
nations are, and will remain, sovereign and independent states."[n]

WHAT WAS SHE THINKING, THIS IS THE WMD GUY...

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, was described as upset and even
angry on Wednesday by some German officials. She and Mr. Bush have
had numerous conversations over the last two months about the issue,
and Ms. Merkel had thought that a compromise solution was in the
works. That was that Washington would support a warm statement
welcoming the interest of Ukraine and Georgia in NATO and encouraging
them to work toward a MAP membership in time for NATO's 60th
anniversary summit next year in Berlin.[n]

ARE THESE COUNTRIES ESTABLISHED ENOUGH FOR ACCESS TO THE COOKIE JAR

Germany and France believe that since neither Ukraine nor Georgia is
stable enough to enter the program now, a membership plan would be an
unnecessary offense to Russia, which firmly opposes the move. In
fact, senior diplomats here said, the Russian president, Vladimir V.
Putin, has threatened to cancel his planned first-ever visit to the
NATO meeting on Friday if the two former Soviet states enter the MAP
program.[n]

TRADITION IS TO TALK FIRST TO OUR ALLIES BEFORE WE INSULT THEM

Ms. Merkel visited Moscow on March 8 and met both Mr. Putin and his
elected successor, Dmitri A. Medvedev, who takes over in May. She
told them that Russia would not be allowed a veto over NATO
membership. But a senior German diplomat, Wolfgang Ischinger, said
that a MAP offer to a divided Ukraine could destabilize the new
government there, and that not enough diplomacy had taken place
beforehand with Russia.[n]

LITTLE BUSINESS , LITTLE VODKA, ROPE A LITTLE BULL

Mr. Ischinger, Germany's ambassador to London, noted that Mr. Bush
and both Russian leaders would meet after the NATO summit meeting in
Sochi, a Russian resort on the Black Sea, and said: "It's the absence
of this discussion that makes me wonder if NATO has done enough of
its homework at this point on this front."[n]

THESE TWO COUNTRIES ADMISSIONS ARE LIKE GIVING A U.N. VOTE TO RHODE
ISLAND AND CONNECTICUT

Germany, he said, supported an "open-door policy" for NATO, including
the offer of full membership at this summit to the Western Balkan
nations of Croatia, Albania and Macedonia, and later to Ukraine and
Georgia. But Germany felt that Ukraine and Georgia were not now ready
even for a MAP plan.[n]

SOUNDS LIKE THE CAST OF TAXI

The American position is supported by the newer members of NATO from
the old Eastern Europe, with Romanian, Estonian and Latvian leaders
emphasizing that MAP is a set of difficult requirements for NATO
membership, including internal political and military reforms and
guarantees of civil liberties, and can take a decade to fulfill.[n]

SMALL COUNTRIES GIVEN A LITTLE POWER ACT UP

"MAP is more of a big stick than a big carrot," said the Estonian
president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, at a conference here of the German
Marshall Fund. "It forces nations to reform even when they don't want
to do it." The Latvian president, Valdis Zatlers, warned that delay
to MAP delayed crucial internal debates. "No action plan, no action,"
he said. "If we delay, we postpone the inevitable. We have to give
MAP."[n]

THEY THINK BUSH COULD HAVE A POSITIVE LEGACY.

Ronald Asmus, who was a key figure in the Clinton administration's
enlargement of NATO and now runs the German Marshall Fund's Brussels
office, said that "Bush's speech set up a dramatic battle that will
be fought out over the next two days and whose outcome will be
important in shaping his legacy, and America's diplomatic standing in
the alliance."[n]
Mr. Asmus said that success was possible short of the Membership
Action Plan, but said that the summit needed to "send a strong enough
signal to the countries to deepen their reforms and to Moscow not to
increase its pressure on them." Failure, he said, "would be a
statement that produces no pressure to reform and that Moscow reads
as a pale green light to ratchet up the pressure."[n] Do ya think.
[trb]

A RENDEZVOUS

Mircea Geoana, a former Romanian foreign minister, pointed out that
in 1997, Romania and Slovenia were urged to wait by Washington before
entering MAP but were given a "rendezvous clause" in a NATO
communiqué that led to MAP later on.[n]

THESE GUYS CAN`T WALK IN THEIR SHOES....

A senior German official pointed out with some exasperation that Ms.
Merkel was using the same argument now as Washington did then. But of
course President Bush is not President Clinton, and President Putin
is not President Boris Yeltsin, and Russia appears to be moving away
from the West now, not toward it.[n]

CHENEY MUST NOT HAVE BEEN WITH BUSH

Derek Chollet, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American
Security in Washington, said that Mr. Bush's speech was "a
combination of valedictory and marker-laying." Mr. Bush would
probably lose the argument on Ukraine and Georgia, Mr. Chollet
said. "But he doesn't care so much, and he believes he's on the right
side of the issue."[n]

MORE TROOPS

Getting NATO support for more troops in Afghanistan and for a limited
European missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic is
probably more important to Mr. Bush before the meeting with Mr.
Putin, Mr. Asmus and Mr. Chollet both said.[n]
In his speech, Mr. Bush urged the alliance to "maintain its resolve
and finish the fight" in Afghanistan and to deploy more troops there
to combat the Taleban, Al Qaeda and other threats around the world.
[n] I CANNOT TOTALLY DISAGREE.[TRB]

ROMANIA MUST COMMIT MORE TROOPS?

With the war in Afghanistan now in its seventh year, and 47,000 NATO
troops already there, Mr. Bush used the speech and a later press
conference to remind the alliance of the threat of terrorism to the
entire West. "We expect our NATO allies to shoulder the burden
necessary to succeed," he said, appearing with Romania's president,
Traian Basescu, at a Black Sea retreat.[n]

PAINTED INTO A CORNER THEY ARE...

France has said that it will send "several hundred" more troops,
probably to Afghanistan's east, Poland and Romania will also send
more troops, and Washington is sending another 3,200 marines. But a
full accounting of any additional troops will not be clear until
Thursday; Canada had said it would consider pulling its troops out of
the dangerous south unless other countries provided another 1,000
soldiers. [n]

FRIES ANYONE

The Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, said on Wednesday he "is
very confident" Canada will get the reinforcements it needs. "We'll
see what the French decide, they made no commitment to us or to
NATO," Mr. Harper said, adding that: "Anything France does, it is a
victory, a step forward."[n]

HEY BABY ...WHATS YOUR NAME...

The summit opened with no resolution to an alliance embarrassment.
Greece continued to say that it would oppose Macedonia's membership
in NATO because of a failure to agree on a new formal name for the
country. NATO works by consensus, so continued Greek opposition would
mean Macedonia does not join now.[n]
Appathurai said the allies agreed to invite Albania and Croatia to
join. But he said Greece is blocking membership at this time for
Macedonia because of their dispute over the use of the name Macedonia.
[v] It's their name for gods sake.[trb]

JANE BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL PLAIN

In Athens, officials said work continued on the possibility that
Macedonia could join NATO under a "provisional new name." Greece
insists that Macedonia alone as a name would allow the tiny country a
potential revanchism that could destabilize the Balkans.[n]

ANOTHER LONLEY VOICE

First of all Thanks to Nato for extending the invitation to Albania.
While it is never right to strip someone off of their identity,
Greece does have a valid point. I'm not sure if this should be used
as a bargain tool for entry into a political and military alliance,
however it is not right to claim the history of another and bear the
name and glory of a different people. In addition Macedonia has not
fully met the Ohrid agreement concerning the rights of its largest
minority, the Albanians. Only two weeks ago the later, left their
positions from the political alliance. These events make the country
unstable to be considered a NATO ally. Perhaps by next NATO summit,
these issues are resolved and FYROM will be a model state in the
Balkans. Good luck! Darien, Tirana, Albania[T]

AND ANOTHER, MAYBE THERE ARE A LOTS OF THINKING PEOPLE OUT THERE

Well, as listening all of this comments I could say one thing, as a
Croatian expat living in Skopje, Macedonia, I would ask you one
question, who gives rights to any to say that Greeks have right to
say who will be called who, the main Greek problem is that they
Kicked out thousands of Macedonians during the 2 World war out of
their homes and land from Macedonia in Greece, and they are afraid
that Macedonians will claim their rights to give them back the land
and the houses of 'Macedonia' seatled in Greece. It is also very true
that wholle of this part of Macedonia belongs to Slavic Macedonians,
Greeks knows that and are thretenning, According to the Bucurest
treathy in 1912 Macedonia was divided in 3 parts, on 100 years
Vardarian to Serbs, Ageian to Greeks and Pirinian to Bulgaria after
100 years it is ending in some years, and Greeks are afraid of this
too. And on other side Greeks have problems with everybody, Albania,
Turkey, Macedonia, all of their neighbours. No wonder they opose
Johnny, Skopje, Macedonia[T]

OH, NO NOT A DESTABILIZED BALKINS. HERE COME THE BRITS

But when asked whether there was still a chance the formal summit
session on Thursday could take such a decision, he added: "I do not
expect it to be tomorrow."[r]

Posted here by Terry Bankert ...
http://attorneybankert.com/
Join my political party of preference,
http://www.michigandems.com/join.html

—where did this stuff come from
[V]
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-02-voa60.cfm
[n]
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/world/europe/03nato.html?ref=world
[R]
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0249940720080402
[t]
Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3670335.ece
[G]
Gulf News
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/world/10202502.html

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