No subject

ing military hardware is vastly outweighed by the disastrous political cons=
equences of Sarkozy=E2=80=99s act of allegiance.=20



It is true that even outside the NATO integrated command, France=E2=80=99s =
independence was only relative. France followed the United States into the =
first Gulf War =E2=80=93 President Fran=C3=A7ois Mitterrand vainly hoped th=
ereby to gain influence in Washington, the usual mirage that beckons allies=
 into dubious U.S. operations. France joined the 1999 NATO war against Yugo=
slavia, despite misgivings at the highest levels. But in 2003, President Ja=
cques Chirac and his foreign minister Dominique de Villepin actually made u=
se of their independence by rejecting the invasion of Iraq. It is generally=
 acknowledged that the French stand enabled Germany to do the same. Belgium=
 followed.=20



Villepin=E2=80=99s February 14, 2003, speech to the UN Security Council giv=
ing priority to disarmament and peace over war won a rare standing ovation.=
 The Villepin speech was hugely popular around the world, and greatly enhan=
ced French prestige, especially in the Arab world. But back in Paris, the p=
ersonal hatred between Sarkozy and Villepin has reached operatic heights of=
 passion, and one can suspect that Sarkozy=E2=80=99s return to NATO obedien=
ce is also an act of personal revenge.=20



The worst political effect is much broader. The impression is now created t=
hat =E2=80=9Cthe West=E2=80=9D, Europe and North America, are barricading t=
hemselves by a military alliance against the rest of the world. In retrospe=
ct, the French dissent accomplished a service to the whole West by giving t=
he impression, or the illusion, that independent thought and action were st=
ill possible, and that someone in Europe might listen to what other parts o=
f the world thought and said. Now, this =E2=80=9Cclosing of ranks=E2=80=9D,=
 hailed by the NATO champions as =E2=80=9Cimproving our security=E2=80=9D, =
will sound the alarms in the rest of the world. The empire seems to be clos=
ing its ranks in order to rule the world. The United States and its allies =
do not openly claim to rule the world, only to regulate it. The West contro=
ls the world=E2=80=99s financial institutions, the IMF and the World Bank. =
It controls the judiciary, the International Criminal Court, which in six y=
ears of existence has put on trial only one obscure Congolese warlord and b=
rought charges against 12 other persons, all of them Africans =E2=80=93 whi=
le meanwhile the United States causes the deaths of hundreds of thousands, =
or even millions, of people in Iraq and Afghanistan and supports Israel=E2=
=80=99s ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people. To the rest of t=
he world, NATO is just the armed branch of this enterprise of domination. A=
nd this at a time when the Western-dominated system of financial capitalism=
 is bringing the world economy to collapse.=20

This gesture of =E2=80=9Cshowing Western unity=E2=80=9D for =E2=80=9Cour se=
curity=E2=80=9D can only make the rest of the world feel insecure. Meanwhil=
e, NATO moves every day to surround Russia with military bases and hostile =
alliances, notably in Georgia. Despite the smiles over dinner with her Russ=
ian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Hillary Clinton repeats the stunning mantra=
 that =E2=80=9Cspheres of influence are not acceptable=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 m=
eaning, of course, that the historic Russian sphere of interest is unaccept=
able, while the United States is vigorously incorporating it into its own s=
phere of influence, called NATO.=20



Already China and Russia are increasing their defense cooperation. The econ=
omic interests and institutional inertia of NATO are pushing the world towa=
rd a pre-war lineup far more dangerous than the Cold War.=20



The lesson NATO refuses to learn is that its pursuit of enemies creates ene=
mies. The war against terrorism fosters terrorism. Surrounding Russian with=
 missiles proclaimed =E2=80=9Cdefensive=E2=80=9D =E2=80=93 when any strateg=
ist knows that a shield accompanied by a sword is also an offensive weapon =
=E2=80=93 will create a Russian enemy.=20



The Search for Threats=20



To prove to itself that it is really =E2=80=9Cdefensive=E2=80=9D, NATO keep=
s looking for threats. Well, the world is a troubled place, thanks in large=
 part to the sort of economic globalization imposed by the United States ov=
er the past decades. This might be the time to be undertaking diplomatic an=
d political efforts to work out internationally agreed ways of dealing with=
 such problems as global economic crisis, climate change, energy use, hacke=
rs (=E2=80=9Ccyberwar=E2=80=9D). NATO think tanks are pouncing on these pro=
blems as new =E2=80=9Cthreats=E2=80=9D to be dealt with by NATO. This leads=
 to a militarization of policy-making where it should be demilitarized.=20

For example, what can it mean to meet the supposed threat of climate change=
 with military means? The answer seems obvious: military force may be used =
in some way against the populations forced from their homes by drought or f=
looding. Perhaps, as in Darfur, drought will lead to clashes between ethnic=
 or social groups. Then NATO can decide which is the =E2=80=9Cgood=E2=80=9D=
 side and bomb the others. That sort of thing.=20



The world indeed appears to be heading into a time of troubles. NATO appear=
s getting read to deal with these troubles by using armed force against unr=
uly populations.=20



This will be evident at NATO=E2=80=99s 60th anniversary celebration in Stra=
sbourg/Kehl on April 3 and 4.=20



The cities will be turned into armed camps. Residents of the tranquil city =
of Strasbourg are obliged to apply for badges in order to leave or enter th=
eir own homes during the happy event. At crucial times, they will not be al=
lowed to leave home at all, except under emergency circumstances. Urban tra=
nsport will be brought to a standstill. The cities will be as dead as if th=
ey had been bombed, to allow the NATO dignitaries to put on a show of peace=
.=20



The high point is to be a ten-minute photo op when French and German leader=
s shake hands on the bridge over the Rhine connected Strasbourg and Kehl. A=
s if Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were making peace between France and=
 Germany for the first time. The locals are to be locked up so as not to di=
sturb the charade.=20



NATO will be behaving as though the biggest threat it faces is the people o=
f Europe. And the biggest threat to the people of Europe may well be NATO.=
=20



Diana Johnstone is author of Fools=E2=80=99 Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and W=
estern Delusions (Monthly Review Press). She can be reached at diana.josto@=
yahoo.fr=20