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== Members == | == Members == | ||
[[File:NATO expansion.png|thumb|NATO expansion after the fall of the Warsaw Pact]] | |||
The 12 founding members of NATO were [[Belgium]], [[Canada]], [[Kingdom of Denmark|Denmark]], [[France]], [[Iceland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Kingdom of Norway|Norway]], [[Portugal]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]].<ref name=":0">https://archive.vn/wip/ogQgV</ref> Since that time, other countries have joined the alliance: [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] (1952), [[Germany]] (1955), [[Spain]] (1982), the [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]] and [[Poland]] (1999), [[Bulgaria]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Romania]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Slovenia]] (2004), [[Albania]] and [[Croatia]] (2009), [[Montenegro]] (2017) and [[Republic of North Macedonia|North Macedonia]] (2020).<ref name=":0" /> | The 12 founding members of NATO were [[Belgium]], [[Canada]], [[Kingdom of Denmark|Denmark]], [[France]], [[Iceland]], [[Italy]], [[Luxembourg]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Kingdom of Norway|Norway]], [[Portugal]], the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]].<ref name=":0">https://archive.vn/wip/ogQgV</ref> Since that time, other countries have joined the alliance: [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] (1952), [[Germany]] (1955), [[Spain]] (1982), the [[Czech Republic]], [[Hungary]] and [[Poland]] (1999), [[Bulgaria]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Romania]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Slovenia]] (2004), [[Albania]] and [[Croatia]] (2009), [[Montenegro]] (2017) and [[Republic of North Macedonia|North Macedonia]] (2020).<ref name=":0" /> | ||
Revision as of 17:00, 26 December 2022
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
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| Headquarters | Brussels, Belgium |
| Official languages | English French |
| Establishment | |
• Formation | 4 April 1949 |
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, more often called NATO, is an anticommunist international military treaty created in the imperial core following the Second World War.[1] It includes all of the world's major imperialist powers except Australia and Japan.[2]
Its original aim was to defend bourgeois republics against a possible Soviet liberation of Europe. When this reality never materialized, NATO moved to funding anticommunist (more often fascist) acts in Europe and abroad. In 1955, the Soviet Union formed the Warsaw Pact to protect itself and its allies from NATO.[3]
NATO has started wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, causing about a million deaths and creating 38 million refugees.[4] Its commanders are always appointed by the U.S. president, and it is an arm of U.S. imperialism.[2]
Members
The 12 founding members of NATO were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.[5] Since that time, other countries have joined the alliance: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) and North Macedonia (2020).[5]
In 1990, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker claimed NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe, although it did anyway,[6][7] and 14 countries in Central and Eastern Europe joined NATO after the overthrow of the Soviet Union.[4]
Finland and Sweden will likely join NATO soon. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave permission for them to join NATO after they expanded domestic terror laws and lifted restrictions on selling weapons to Turkey.[4]
Anticommunist projects
NATO took over anti-Soviet subversive activities from their predecessors when they started operating Nazi general Richard Gehlen's network of spies in the Soviet Union.
NATO is perhaps best known among European communists for Operation Gladio, which is a name given to a series of operations that consisted of funding fascist groups in Europe to assassinate and destabilize communists in the 20th century. In 2022, a Spanish lawmaker Gerado Pisarello criticized NATO for promoting a New Cold War on China.[8]
NATO supported a right-wing military coup in Greece in 1967. It sent warships to Portugal in 1975 to repress the working class after the fall of the fascist Estado Novo regime.[2]
Imperialist acts
The Coalition fighting in Afghanistan, in a conflict that started in 1979 when the Afghan government asked the USSR to help fight against the Mujahideen, was sent on the request of NATO.
NATO invaded and destroyed Iraq in 1991.[3]
NATO bombed Bosnia, Serbia, and Kosovo during the Yugoslav Wars.[4]
When the USA was attacked on September 11, 2001 and followed with a declaration of war against Iraq for imperialist interests, NATO—by their own admission—put their principle of collective defence to practice: if one member country is attacked, then all must join the war in defense. It is important to note that the government of Iraq never claimed responsibility or was ever tied to the terrorist attacks. Notably, president Bush admitted in 2006 that Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq in 2001, was not responsible for the attack[9].
NATO invaded the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in 2011, causing a complete collapse of the country.[4]
NATO backed Turkey's occupation of parts of Syria and Iraq. Turkey has the second largest military of any NATO member.[4]
In June 2022, NATO announced it would increase its standing army in Europe from 40,000 to 300,000 troops, including over 3,000 troops in the Baltic states on the border with Russia.[10] NATO also added China to its list of enemies and labeled it a "systemic challenge."[11]
References
- ↑ Ben Norton (2022-06-14). "NATO is a tool of US imperialism that has backed Nazis for decades" Multipolarista.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 John Catalinotto (2018-07-16). "A short history of NATO" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sara Flounders (2022-04-04). "NATO’s global history of reaction" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Chris Hedges (2022-07-12). "Chris Hedges: NATO—The Most Dangerous Military Alliance on the Planet" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://archive.vn/wip/ogQgV
- ↑ "NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard". National Security Archive.
- ↑ Eugene Puryear (2022-06-05). "Should we really blame NATO for the Ukraine war?" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
- ↑ Ben Norton (2022-07-05). "Spanish lawmaker: NATO subordinates Europe to US, pushes war on China, enriches weapons companies" Multipolarista.
- ↑ Suzanne Goldenberg (2006-09-12). "Bush: Saddam was not responsible for 9/11" The Guardian.
- ↑ Andre Damon (2022-06-27). "NATO announces plan for massive European land army" World Socialist Web Site. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
- ↑ Sameena Rahman (2022-06-30). "NATO officially adds China to its list of enemies" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-02.