Jens Stoltenberg: NATO’s Mr Zig-Zag

By Finian Cunningham

June 19, 2015 "Information Clearing House" - "SCF" - Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, has a knack for intellectual zig-zagging. Indeed, the 56-year-old former Norwegian prime minister, can be said to have made a very successful career in public life owing precisely to his adept ability at expedient zig-zagging.

Stoltenberg’s latest dubious public intervention this week was to accuse Russia of «dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling». This followed the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow was to introduce up to 40 new Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) into its nuclear arsenal, and that threats to the country would be countered by deploying modern weapons that could thwart any anti-missile system. That was a clear reference by Putin to recent American moves that intend to introduce more missile systems into eastern Europe aimed at giving the US-led military NATO alliance «first-strike»capability against Russia.

So, who is rattling sabres here? Obviously, the NATO alliance is on a dangerous, threatening roll toward Russia’s borders. American-led war games, thousands of troops and tanks, missiles, warplanes and warships have proliferated at dizzying speed over the past year, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Currently, NATO is conducting its biggest-ever war manoeuvres in the Baltic region, and yet when Russia takes reasonable defensive measures, Stoltenberg accuses Moscow of sabre-rattling. Just this week, prior to the Russian ICBM announcement, the Pentagon told the Paris Air Show that it was considering the stationing of its new generation of stealth F-22 and F-35 fighter jets in Europe – another contravention in a whole series of audacious contraventions of the 1997 Russia-NATO Founding Act which forbids such NATO military expansion.

This is not the first time that the Norwegian civilian figurehead of NATO has shown a stupendous ability to invert reality. Back in March this year, Stoltenberg accused Russia of destabilising security in Europe by holding «snap» military drills within its own borders – and that at the same time when NATO is rolling out ever-more military manoeuvres on Russia’s borders.

While on a visit to Britain’s premier David Cameron at 10 Downing Street on March 13, Jens Stoltenberg told the Guardian newspaper: «There are more and more snap [Russian] exercises with no prior notification. It is important we keep the channels for military communication open to have as much transparency as possible to avoid misunderstandings and to make sure that incidents don’t spiral and get out of control. Every nation has the right to conduct exercises, as long as they do it within their international obligations. But the recent Russian practice of calling snap exercises is of serious concern. Sudden, unpredictable and surprise military manoeuvres contribute to instability».

Stoltenberg seems to think that it is perfectly acceptable for the Western military alliance to encircle Russian territory with offensive capability, but when Russia carries out counter-measures «without prior notification» then that is unacceptable and contributing to «instability». Maybe Stoltenberg would find it acceptable if NATO were to be given the exact coordinates of all Russian military bases and future flight plans. Or, in other words, if Moscow were to simply surrender all defensive capability.

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