US Impunity Under Threat: Turkey May Disintegrate NATO

By Paul Craig Roberts

August 17, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "Katehon" -  If Turkey leaves NATO, that would be a big change. Turkey has been in the pockets of Washington for a long time. If Washington was behind the coup, this probably has damaged the relationship permanently. Erdogan has very strong motives to realign with Russia despite the problems he had caused. The Russian government has a very strong interest to overlook Turkey’s past behavior and to befriend it, because it weakens NATO on Russia’s borders. There is a possibility, but I don’t know how quickly it happens and what Washington will try to do to retrieve the relationship. It will be some sort of a competition to establish relations with Turkey.

I think Washington will try to fix the problems with Turkey. It has an endless supply of money, because the dollar is the world’s reserve currency. So they can offer to Turkish leader billions of dollars. They can say: “look, we never really intended this. There was some rogue operation within the governments, but we punished them all”. Who knows what they can say? It depends on how they asses it. It may happen, that the Turkish leader will try to have one foot in both camps. We will see soon by how Turkey responds to the war in Syria. Let’s see what Turkey is going to do.

The US and NATO don’t really have the conventional military power to pressure Russia. The pressure comes from American missile bases in Poland and Romania. These bases can very easily be converted in a few hours to strategic nuclear missiles. That could put Russia in defensive position. That is the real danger. If Turkey leaves NATO, it will weaken NATO. And it may encourage thoughts out in Europe.

NATO’s purpose has changed over time. In fact, it lost its purpose when the Soviet Union collapsed. So, the American neo-conservatives gave NATO a new purpose. They made it an instrument for obtaining American Hegemony over the world and they intend to use it to prevent the rise of Russia. What the purpose of NATO is today – is to implicate all of Europe in Washington war crimes. So, since all are guilty, the European governments can’t turn on Washington and accuse Americans of war crimes. The other voices in the world are too weak to make any consequences for United Stated. Therefore, we have over fifteen years of Washington’s aggression in North Africa, Middle East, Afghanistan; bombings, missile attacks, invasions; millions of people are killed, wounded, displaced, refugees overwhelming Europe to escape from Washington’s wars. These are all war crimes under international standards. But yet no one accuses Washington, because NATO shares the responsibility. The main purpose for NATO today is to provide cover for Washington’s crimes.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, How America Was Lost, and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order.