Miscellaneous News

NATO eyes fighting two wars – Bloomberg​

The US-led bloc is reportedly drawing up contingencies for a defensive “Article 5 conflict” and an “out-of-area” battle

NATO is set to adopt a guidance that lays out plans for a scenario in which member states find themselves fighting on the home front and beyond the borders of the alliance at the same time, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This comes as the US increasingly shifts its priorities to confronting China.

The classified document is to be discussed and signed off on by NATO defense ministers during a two-day summit in Brussels that starts on Tuesday, the news outlet reported. Members will be asked to prepare national plans for future military engagements.

The guidance will map out ways for NATO to engage in a “high-intensity so-called Article 5 conflict” – defending a NATO nation attacked by a foreign party under the treaty’s mutual defense provision – and “an out-of-area, non-Article 5 event.”The contents of the guideline were revealed to Bloomberg by “people familiar with the matter.”

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NATO to engage in a “high-intensity so-called Article 5 conflict” – defending a NATO nation attacked by a foreign party under the treaty’s mutual defense provision – and “an out-of-area, non-Article 5 event.”

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Looks like the so called “defensive alliance” will no longer require an article 5 event to start a war.

Superior Indian QC.

vincent said:

Charm offensive is useless. 国台办 has been doing that for decades.
What changed is the military threat has become real with the military exercises after the Pelosi visit
Mainland should do more of them

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I agree. In the case of Taiwan, the charm offensive had reached its limits, hence military threat had to be used to remind them of their place. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Russia-Ukraine War had massively added weight to the military threat of the PRC. Both of these events greatly shattered US credibility with regard to its allies, and exposed the weaknesses of the US military industrial complex. The post-Pelosi-visit PLA exercises last year would have brought tensions up on its own. But with those two major events, especially the Russia-Ukraine War, it was especially powerful. It finally sobered up many Taiwanese, especially the youths.

More military exercises would be useful, but it should be controlled. Not too much, or it'll drain budgets and becomes routine, thereby losing its fear factor. Or too little, which is repeating the mistakes of the past decades since the 3rd Taiwan Straits Crisis.

Failure to react to natural disaster, internal political division, lazy/complacent leadership and seeking offensive foreign wars is a sign of losing the mandate of heaven.

I'm of course talking about the Ming Dynasty in the Wanli era. Only historically, nothing to do with modern day.

Dear President, please fire whoever is running your Twitter account. Thank you.

Indian “IRS” just raided the BBC today lol

BBC offices ‘raided’ in India​

The BBC has reported that its bureaus in the Indian capital, New Delhi, and Mumbai, were targets of a surprise 'raid' by Income Tax Department officials on Tuesday. According to local media, tax authorities have been investigating alleged financial irregularities in the British state broadcaster's Indian dealings.

In a statement on Twitter, the broadcaster said it is “fully cooperating” with the Indian tax authorities and that it hopes to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

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Crappy Chinese QC ruins lives.

The War Nerd podcast has published an with Pulitzer-prize winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh concerning his recently published that alleges the US government was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. Reportedly this is the first interview Hersh has given since publishing the story.

I don't think the episode is free (some are, most aren't) but I can vouch for the quality of the War Nerd podcast, having followed the writings of the principal folks involved (Mark Ames and John Dolan) for decades now. The provides an indication of the breadth of the material they cover. The podcast is particularly useful as a source of information on Russia in the 1990s to mid-2000s owing to both of the showrunners living and working as journalists there at the time.

Marcos playing dumb lol

Philippine President Marcos confronts Chinese envoy over laser incident at sea​

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• Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr confronted Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian over ‘aggressive’ actions of Chinese coastguard against Philippine boat
• Also discussed was the ‘increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against the Philippine coastguard and fishermen’, a spokesperson said

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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos summoned Beijing’s ambassador on Tuesday to express “serious concern” after a Chinese security vessel was accused of using a military-grade laser light against a Philippine patrol boat in the disputed South China Sea.

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The confrontation marks an escalation in the diplomatic row, after the Philippine foreign ministry earlier filed a protest to the Chinese embassy condemning the “aggressive” actions of the Chinese coastguard vessel that it said left Filipino crew members temporarily blinded.

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Marcos confronted Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian on Tuesday “over the increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen”, spokeswoman Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said.

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The Chinese embassy said the men had discussed, among other things, how to “properly manage maritime differences between China and the Philippines”.

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Strangelove said:

HAHAHAHAHA, Jai Hind!!!!!!

I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the Modi documentary, the Indian government and its tax department are always and will be a beacon of impartiality.

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The Indians are now dealing with the British the same way they are dealing with xiaomi, as they had claimed xiaomi was evading taxes?