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Daniel,
Well stated and thought from the British POV. I agree with your points, =
but would like to insert one clarification. It is not America that is =
insulting and bitching at NATO countries.=20
I have been around for nearly 7 decades and this is the absolute worst =
relationship between our NATO allies and the US I have ever seen in =
those decades. Treating Russia as a =E2=80=9Cfriend=E2=80=9D over NATO, =
Iran and Ukraine is the bottom of the barrel in my opinion.=20
This is my opinion, and so far, in the US, I am still allowed to have =
one.=20
Spridgeteers, Please don=E2=80=99t t make this a mess. It is simply the =
opinion of an Englishman and an American. =20
Larry
> On Mar 20, 2026, at 6:33=E2=80=AFAM, Weslake1330 via Spridgets =
<spridgets@autox.team.net> wrote:
>=20
> Hi List,
>=20
> I wanted to post some thoughts on Iran, NATO and Europe that simply =
aren't being reported on national news, as far as I can tell, whose =
reporters seem to have no idea of analysis or wider impacts.
>=20
> The news isn't saying much about how much help Iran has had and =
continues to have from Russia and China, the latter especially. I =
believe that Iran is an evil regime supported (English phrase: aided and =
abetted) over decades by Russia and China. I have heard that Chinese =
technicians aiding Iran firing missiles have been killed. So if America =
decides to attack Iran that's ok by me in a broad sense. Iran with =
nuclear weapons would be a disaster for the world.
>=20
> NATO is about defence and its membership agreement makes that clear. =
NATO is not a force multiplier to call upon when a member's aggression =
needs some backup. Yes, the USA puts more money into NATO than any =
other country and arguably it has had the most back. Europe provided =
the buffer for the USA against the USSR and I guess that was a price the =
USA decided was worth paying. Well times change and the USSR not longer =
exists but former members are a threat. The flipside to the coin that =
isn't discussed is not whether all the NATO countries need to spend more =
(and a couple do) but could America spend less?
>=20
> America has stated that China rather that Russia are the real threats =
and attacking Iran weakens China considerably though news commentators =
aren't saying so. America seems to continue to be well disposed to Mr =
Putin and Russia and seem to ignore the large part of aid Russia has =
given to Iran. Well I guess it might be in America's interest to say =
little and not state what is close to being obvious.
>=20
> What makes no sense and is baseless criticism is to insult NATO and =
European countries (who get very little oil and gas from Iran) for not =
answering a call to aid from America. It is India, China and other =
eastern countries who are not going their oil from the Gulf, not NATO =
and European countries. It's also worth considering what countries are =
in NATO. Well Canada is in NATO and so is Denmark (who count Greenland =
as part of its territory) and they have good grounds for not rushing to =
the assistance of the USA. What about the European countries in NATO? =
Well they are still very focused on supporting Ukraine and the Arctic =
where there is still Russian aggression and threat - something that =
America thinks they ought to be doing.
>=20
> It is never good sense to insult your friends and allies, or falsely =
accuse them. And while you might publicly state they aren't helping and =
are free loaders, the truth and reality is quite different. However, =
spend enough time and energy publicly criticising them and there is a =
real risk you'll discover how much they DID do when they decide to do a =
lot less or nothing for you in the future. Google RAF Croughton and see =
not only how important that is to America but the controversy caused by =
a fatal road accident that made everything connected to that site =
unpopular.
>=20
> Regards
>=20
> Daniel S
> ------------------------
>=20
> spridgets@autox.team.net
>=20
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation: $12.75
>=20
> Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/spridgets =
http://autox.team.net/archive
>=20
> Unsubscribe/Manage: =
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/spridgets/lmacy@mac.com
=E2=80=94
Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
lmacy@mac.com
=E2=80=9CRemember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet,=E2=80=
=9D he said. =E2=80=9CTry to make sense of what you see and about what =
makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may =
seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters =
that you don=E2=80=99t just give up.=E2=80=9D=20
~Stephen Hawking
--Apple-Mail=_B6C775D8-2C86-449F-BCB4-4733D6D82FE7
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
charset=utf-8
<html aria-label=3D"message body"><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" =
content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body =
style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
line-break: after-white-space;">Daniel,<div><br></div><div>Well stated =
and thought from the British POV. I agree with your points, but would =
like to insert one clarification. It is not America that is insulting =
and bitching at NATO countries. </div><div><br></div><div>I have =
been around for nearly 7 decades and this is the absolute worst =
relationship between our NATO allies and the US I have ever seen in =
those decades. Treating Russia as a =E2=80=9Cfriend=E2=80=9D over NATO, =
Iran and Ukraine is the bottom of the barrel in my =
opinion. </div><div><br></div><div>This is my opinion, and so far, =
in the US, I am still allowed to have =
one. </div><div><br></div><div>Spridgeteers, Please don=E2=80=99t t =
make this a mess. It is simply the opinion of an Englishman and an =
American. </div><div><br></div><div>Larry<br =
id=3D"lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><div>On Mar 20, 2026, at 6:33=E2=80=AFAM, Weslake1330 via =
Spridgets <spridgets@autox.team.net> wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div dir=3D"ltr">Hi =
List,<div><br></div><div>I wanted to post some thoughts on Iran, =
NATO and Europe that simply aren't being reported on national news, as =
far as I can tell, whose reporters seem to have no idea of analysis or =
wider impacts.</div><div><br></div><div>The news isn't saying much about =
how much help Iran has had and continues to have from Russia and China, =
the latter especially. I believe that Iran is an evil regime =
supported (English phrase: aided and abetted) over decades by Russia and =
China. I have heard that Chinese technicians aiding Iran firing =
missiles have been killed. So if America decides to attack Iran =
that's ok by me in a broad sense. Iran with nuclear weapons would =
be a disaster for the world.</div><div><br></div><div>NATO is about =
defence and its membership agreement makes that clear. NATO is not =
a force multiplier to call upon when a member's aggression needs some =
backup. Yes, the USA puts more money into NATO than any other =
country and arguably it has had the most back. Europe provided the =
buffer for the USA against the USSR and I guess that was a price the USA =
decided was worth paying. Well times change and the USSR not =
longer exists but former members are a threat. The flipside to the =
coin that isn't discussed is not whether all the NATO countries need to =
spend more (and a couple do) but could America spend =
less?</div><div><br></div><div>America has stated that China rather that =
Russia are the real threats and attacking Iran weakens China =
considerably though news commentators aren't saying so. America =
seems to continue to be well disposed to Mr Putin and Russia and seem to =
ignore the large part of aid Russia has given to Iran. Well I =
guess it might be in America's interest to say little and not state what =
is close to being obvious.</div><div><br></div><div>What makes no sense =
and is baseless criticism is to insult NATO and European countries (who =
get very little oil and gas from Iran) for not answering a call to aid =
from America. It is India, China and other eastern countries who =
are not going their oil from the Gulf, not NATO and European =
countries. It's also worth considering what countries are in =
NATO. Well Canada is in NATO and so is Denmark (who count =
Greenland as part of its territory) and they have good grounds for not =
rushing to the assistance of the USA. What about the European =
countries in NATO? Well they are still very focused on supporting =
Ukraine and the Arctic where there is still Russian aggression and =
threat - something that America thinks they ought to be =
doing.</div><div><br></div><div>It is never good sense to insult your =
friends and allies, or falsely accuse them. And while you might =
publicly state they aren't helping and are free loaders, the truth and =
reality is quite different. However, spend enough time and energy =
publicly criticising them and there is a real risk you'll discover how =
much they DID do when they decide to do a lot less or nothing for you in =
the future. Google RAF Croughton and see not only how important =
that is to America but the controversy caused by a fatal road accident =
that made everything connected to that site =
unpopular.</div><div><br></div><div>Regards</div><div><br></div><div>Danie=
l S</div></div>
------------------------<br><br>spridgets@autox.team.net<br><br>Donate: =
$12.75<br><br>Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/spridgets =
http://autox.team.net/archive<br><br>Unsubscribe/Manage: =
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/spridgets/lmacy@mac.com<br></div></b=
lockquote></div><br><div>
<div style=3D"caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); =
font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; =
font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; =
orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: =
none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; =
-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; =
text-decoration: none;">=E2=80=94<br><br>Larry B. Macy, =
Ph.D.<br>lmacy@mac.com<br><br><br>=E2=80=9CRemember to look up at the =
stars and not down at your feet,=E2=80=9D he said. =E2=80=9CTry =
to make sense of what you see and about what makes the =
universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may =
seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It =
matters that you don=E2=80=99t just give up.=E2=80=9D <br>~Steph=
en Hawking<br><br></div>
</div>
<br></div></body></html>=
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