North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a dreaded name of a belligerent imperialist combination to people of a number of countries, particularly of Europe as well as of Africa and Asia. While NATO is observing its 70th anniversary this year, 2019, on the contrary, peace-loving people of the world under the auspices of the World Peace Organization held a conference in America in March 2019 last to mobilize public opinion against the plan of war by NATO.
After the defeat of fascist Germany in World War II at the hands of the USSR under the leadership of great Stalin, and in the face of the growing socialist sentiment throughout the world, including Western Europe, the USA raised the plea that socialist Russia would establish communism in Europe using arms and it was necessary to form a military alliance of America and Europe to resist USSR. This propaganda against socialist USSR was absolutely baseless, as under the leadership of great Stalin, USSR had announced that they would not attack any country; rather they called for total disarmament in the world. But the imperialists did not pay heed to it and in April, 1949 the imperialist rulers of the USA, UK and Canada formed the NATO. Their stated principle was that “an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all allies”: belligerence par excellence. NATO now encompasses 29 member states. Ever since its founding in 1949, NATO has served as the vehicle to spur the arms race in the name of ‘peace through strength’. In that very same year, the Truman Administration in the United States secretly developed “Operation Dropshot’ to launch a devastating ‘first-strike’ against the former Soviet Union to completely obliterate that country. Throughout the ‘cold war’ years, the U.S. and its NATO allies always tried to maintain a military superiority over the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. Whether they could or not is a different point. But the fact they cynically concealed from public view at the time, but now readily admit.
During World War II, communists opposed Mussolini in Italy, fought the fascists in Greece and resisted the Nazi occupation of France. As a result, they had earned a great deal of prestige as against the rich, the capitalists and priests of the churches who normally backed the fascists. If not for the US or the British interference, communists would probably have taken power in Greece and won the 1948 election in Italy, even without Moscow’s support. In France the Communist Party won 30 percent of the first post-war vote and occupied a number of ministries in a coalition government.
At the time of Italy’s first post-war election, prominent Canadian diplomat, Escott Reid, emerging as the spokesman of the imperialist world, explained that “the whole game of the Russians is obviously to conquer without armed attack.” For his part, Lester Pearson, External Affairs Minister, House of Commons, Canada decried an “attempt at a complete Russian conquest of Italy by constitutional or extra-constitutional means” and described class struggle by workers as a “new and sinister kind of danger, indirect aggression.” US officials were equally concerned. George Kennan, the top US government policy planner at the time of NATO’s formation, considered “the communist danger in its most threatening form as an internal problem that is of western society.” For his part NATO commander and American president Dwight D. Eisenhower explained: “One of the great and immediate uses of the [NATO] military forces we are developing is to convey a feeling of confidence to exposed populations, a confidence which will make them sturdier, politically, in their opposition to Communist inroads.”
NATO planners thus feared an erosion of self-confidence among Western Europe’s elite and the bourgeoisie due to the growing influence of the communists. Tens of thousands of North American troops were stationed in Western Europe to reinforce this sagging confidence. At the same time, blunting the European Left was an important agenda of the establishment of the NATO. It was born with obvious pro-capitalist, anti-democratic intent. It was created to manage “democracy” so that existing powers-that-be maintained their status.
Apparently, “Secret anti-Communist NATO protocols” committed alliance countries’ intelligence agencies to preventing communist parties from gaining power. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, information surfaced regarding groups like the CIA, NATO and MI6 sponsored “stay-behind” networks in many European countries, intending to activate them in case a communist party came to power in a democratic election or in case of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. No invasion took place, of course. According to Martin Packard the networks were “financed, armed, and trained in covert resistance activities, including assassination, political provocation and disinformation.”As brought out in the following quote on NATO’s Secret Armies: “The real and present danger in the eyes of the secret war strategists in Washington and London were the at-times numerically strong Communist parties in the democracies of Western Europe. Hence the network, in the total absence of a Soviet invasion took up arms in numerous countries and fought a secret war against the political forces of the left. The secret armies… were involved in a whole series of terrorist operations and human rights violations that they wrongly blamed on the Communists in order to discredit the left at the polls.” [On NATO’s 70th Anniversary Important to Remember Its Anti-democratic Roots: Yves Engler, Global Research, March 28, 2019] Blunting the European Left was an important part of the establishment of NATO. It was born with obvious pro-capitalist, anti-democratic intent. It was created was to manage “democracy” so that existing powers-that-be maintained their status.
The year after NATO was established the Canadian government initiated PROFUNC (acronym of (PROminent FUN Ctionaries of the Communist Party), a top secret Government of Canada project to identify and observe suspected Canadian communists and crypto-communists during the height of the Cold War. In operation from 1950 to 1983, the goal of the program was to allow for quick internment (i.e., imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges) of known and suspected communist sympathizers in the event of war with the Soviet Union (USSR) or its allies.
NATO Operations
The NATO did not conduct any military operations during the life time of great Stalin and even before the capitalist counter-revolution in the erstwhile USSR. Following the 1991 dissolution of the USSR, NATO – which hitherto professed itself as a ‘defensive shield’ – instead expanded its military reach right up to the borders of the Russian Federation, throughout Northern Africa and the Middle East, and elsewhere around the globe. The first operations by the NATO were prompted by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In March 1999, the most powerful military force in history attacked tiny Yugoslavia and after seventy-nine days of flagrantly illegal bombing forced an occupation of Kosovo. Admitting its intention was to break Yugoslavia’s spirit, NATO targeted civilian structures, dropping over thousands of cluster bombs, Napalm bombs and cruise missiles and destroyed schools, hospitals, buildings, etc. It was such a horrific onslaught, that even Alexander Solzhenitsyn, described it as follows: “I don’t see any difference in the behaviour of NATO and of Hitler. NATO wants to erect its own order in the world and it needs Yugoslavia simply as an example: We’ll punish Yugoslavia and the whole rest of the planet will tremble.”
In an all-out effort to convince public opinion that Yugoslavia deserved the onslaught, Western politicians and media churned out endless accusations of Serb atrocities, while the proven and infinitely greater atrocities of NATO — launching an aggressive war, using internationally outlawed cluster bombs and firing depleted uranium ammunition into Yugoslavia — were buried.
In 1999, NATO admitted that Yugoslavia was attacked to force it to sign the Rambouillet “peace agreement”, which stipulated: “The economy of Kosovo shall function in accordance with free market principles” and “There shall be no impediments to the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital to and from Kosovo.” During the war, Bill Clinton elaborated: “If we’re going to have a strong economic relationship that includes our ability to sell around the world Europe has got to be the key; that’s what this Kosovo thing is all about… It’s globalism versus tribalism.” “Tribalism” was the word used by 19th century free trade liberals to describe nationalism. And this war was all about threatening any nation which might have ideas of independence. It is thus clear that in the name of “peace agreement” the US imperialists wanted to destroy the economy of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia had a domestically controlled economy, a strong publicly owned sector, a good (and free) health care system and its own defense industry. It had many employee owned factories — its population was resisting wholesale privatization. It produced its own pharmaceuticals, aircraft and Yugo automobile. It refused to allow U.S. military bases on its soil. According to the speaker of the Russian Duma: “Yugoslavia annoys NATO because it conducts an independent policy, does not want to join NATO and has an attractive geographic position.” As NATO troops entered Kosovo, the New York Times announced Kosovo’s new currency will be the U.S. dollar or German mark, currencies of the two countries most responsible for Yugoslavia’s break-up. And after months of being told that Slobodan Milosevic was the problem, Washington Balkans expert, Daniel Serwer, said, “It’s not a single person that’s at issue, there’s a regime in place in Belgrade that is incompatible with the kind of economy that the World Bank… has to insist on…”So, evidently the entire Yugoslavia operation was fraught with deception, rabid anti-communism, and unambiguous imperialist greed for capturing market for profit.
The imperialist war and occupation of Afghanistan, began in 2001, undertaken under a NATO mandate. And the 2011 war on Libya – which was once again justified under the pretext of “humanitarian interventionism” – was likewise under the flag of NATO. In fact, NATO has now emerged as the primary military instrument of U.S. imperialist domination around the world.
NATO gears up aggressive role afresh : peace-loving people must step up resistance in demand of dismantling the NATO
At present the NATO and the USA are deploying lakhs of military personnel starting from the Nordic countries like Denmark, Sweden, etc. and in Baltic countries like Estonia, Latvia, etc. to Bulgaria. A march of 50 thousand men was held in Sweden and Norway last year. Missile defense system is being set up in Norway, Poland and Rumania. Middle East has now been the place of extreme war tension in the world. The imperialists are intervening in Syria, threatening Iran by cancelling nuclear pact. Palestinians are being murdered by Israel every day. Aggressions are being made in Syria and Iraq by Turkey , as well as in Yemen by Saudi Arabia.
Recently American President has declared that the Golan Height region of Syria, which has been occupied by Israel for 52 years, will be handed over to the occupier Israel. Last February the defense ministers of the NATO states have decided in a meeting that they should be so prepared as to deploy 30 warships, 30 battalions of army and 30 fighter planes within 30 days in any places of the world.
Increasing its activity in the East and Middle Europe the NATO is trying to accumulate arms and ammunitions in at the border of Russia. Warships are being accumulated with an objective to establish a military base in South- East Europe. In Greece, the old military base is being modernized. Activities have been enhanced in the Balkan region by including North Macedonia as a member of NATO.
Even in Latin America, the US imperialists, are planning to include Colombia and Brazil, with two of the most right-wing governments in Latin America as the ‘global partners’ in the militarist combination of the NATO as also to increase pressures on the besieged legitimate Maduro government in Venezuela.
In a recent survey it has been stated that NATO is planning to increase its military power in Russia, South and North Korea areas on the pretext to prevent wars in future. With this objective all the member states of NATO have been asked to increase their military budget. It has been stated that the requirement of NATO will be the requirement of the member states, there will be no need for separate defense of the countries.
It is thus observed that NATO is a totally anti-people alliance of belligerent imperialists, headed by the war-monger US imperialists. Undoubtedly it is a danger to mankind and humanity, an instrument in the hands of the imperialists and is protecting the interests of the world capitalist class. When there is any chance of resistance to the exploitation of the capitalists, NATO comes forward to protect the interest of the capitalists on the plea of human rights violation. In the world without the socialist camp, it is continuously trying to gear up its aggressive role. As NATO generals and their governments prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this aggressive military alliance, it is high time for the peace-loving people throughout the world to demand the dismantling of NATO. The exploited people of the member- states of NATO should raise their voice against NATO and demand to their governments to withdraw from the NATO. The people of the world beyond the combination, should also raise the voice for the dissolution of this dangerous military pact.
