The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance which main purpose is to "safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means." It was founded in 1949 when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed.

Since the Cold War ended NATO members reverse their military spending, but the US military industrial complex continued to grow along with the anti-Russian rhetoric. Robert Bridge from RT calls this a "deadly irony."

Russia has been judged for spending money in modernizing its military forces. In 2010 it committed $610 billion dollars to its military and ensure that at least 70% of its military equipment is modernized.

In an Newsweek article by Andrew Monaghan this was sold as an apocalyptic scenario saying "Russia [was] moving to a war footing." But this is roughly the same amount the US Pentagon spends every month feeding their military empire.

Russia is convinced negotiating with the West is futile after anti-Russian policies are common and the West supports any individual, movement or government that is anti-Russian. So it has decided to bet for its own an independent national defense.

This is an act of aggression NATO denies to tolerate so the US  has been forcing European NATO members to engage in aggressive operations to show their strength.

“The largest war game in eastern Europe since the end of the cold war has started in Poland, as NATO and partner countries seek to mount a display of strength as a response to concerns about Russia’s assertiveness and actions,” said The Guardian on June 16.

Anaconda 2016 was an exercise which involved 31,000 troops and thousands of vehicles from 24 countries. It was welcomed by NATO members and allies but defense experts warn it might cause an offensive reaction by Moscow.

A recent Foreign Policy article, citing a Rand Corp. study suggested NATO presence in the Baltics would be easily outnumbered by Russian forces. The same day US secretary Ash Carter announced a $3.4 billion plan to add more heavy weapons and armored vehicles in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.

"NATO has become an aggressive tool form the United States and is threatening to drive Europe into an all-destroying thermonuclear war with Russia," writes John Scales Avery in a Transcend Media Service article.

NATO members currently spend around 1.4% of their GDP in the military. But Washington is urging to increase it to 2%, meaning $100 billion dollars more. This will benefit US economy as American Pentagon corporations stand to gain from the business.

"To save itself from the danger of nuclear annihilation, Europe must declare its independence from America, just as the United States once declared its independence from Britain."
 
Prepared by

María Andrea Marquez