Beijing, 24 Apr (Xinhua) -- The russian-Ukrainian conflict has once again put NATO in the spotlight of international public opinion. Looking back at history, NATO did not enter history with the end of the Cold War, but was reduced to a military tool for safeguarding US hegemony and a murderous weapon that wantonly trampled on human rights, continuing the Cold War mentality to continue to seek group confrontation.
The Xinhua News Agency recently issued three articles in a row, going deep into NATO," the "legacy of the Cold War," so that the people of the world can further see its true face and despicable behavior.
One of the bottoms: a military tool to maintain US hegemony
It is not difficult to trace back to the source and find that the seeds of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict were quietly planted as early as the day nato took the steps of eastward expansion after the Cold War.
In 1949, in order to counter the Soviet Union, the United States co-opted some European countries to establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the name of "common defense". 42 years later, the Soviet Union disintegrated, NATO not only did not end with the end of the Cold War, but under the leadership of the United States on the one hand, it continued to expand eastward, step by step to "force Russia into a corner", eventually leading to the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine, on the other hand, under the banner of safeguarding "democracy, freedom, and human rights", extended the black hand of military intervention to the Middle East, Africa and other regions, so that many countries fell into war.
"The U.S. government decided and carried out everything (military intervention) on its own ... AND NATO is nothing more than a cover for US hegemony. An article in the Belgian Evening News in September last year pointed out to the point that NATO, a military bloc, is fundamentally serving the hegemonic interests of the United States.
——American scholar Christopher Lane wrote in the book "American Hegemony and the Perpetuation of NATO" in 2000: Since 1945, the United States has been on the road to pursuing hegemony...
After the end of the Cold War, many people believed that NATO had completed its mission and would be dissolved. NATO, however, has done the opposite, expanding its geographical boundaries and the scope of its activities. The reason behind this is that the United States needs to use this military tool to continue to control European affairs and maintain US hegemony...
James Baker, former U.S. Secretary of State, wrote in 2002 that NATO's nature now extends far beyond a military alliance. We are not ignorant of the domestic political, economic and cultural values of our allies, because one of the important purposes of the NATO alliance is, and has always been, to promote a specific set of values – values that are closely related to the West...
Original text: One of nato's "legacies of the Cold War": a military tool to safeguard US hegemony
The second bottom: murderous weapons that wantonly trample on human rights
"Twenty-three years ago, NATO launched a brutal, horrific, illegal, inhuman attack on a small country..." Serbian President Vucic said at a ceremony on March 24 in memory of the victims of the 1999 NATO bombing.
What happened to Serbia is not an isolated case. Over the years, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya, the UNITED-led NATO has waged wanton wars, flagrantly trampled on human rights, and led to bloody tragedies. What is even more outrageous is that NATO has never reflected on these crimes committed in the name of "humanity", "democracy" and "peace" and has never been held accountable.
On March 24, 1999, NATO bypassed the United Nations Security Council under the banner of "avoiding humanitarian disasters" and carried out 78 days of continuous bombing against the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, killing more than 2,000 civilians, injuring more than 6,000 people, displacing nearly 1 million people, and losing the source of livelihood of more than 2 million people...
• In the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States and NATO have repeatedly killed civilians in military operations. Earlier this year, in the village of Lakani in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, 73-year-old villager Ding Mohammed told Xinhua that in 2011, U.S. warplanes launched an airstrike on the village, killing 63 villagers, including his family's 17 members, and injuring dozens more. "They are all innocent civilians and have not committed any crime"...
In addition to the innocent deaths of a large number of civilians, the United States and its NATO allies have also caused deep disasters to the economy and people's livelihood of relevant countries...
Original text: Starting from the bottom of the "legacy of the Cold War" NATO NO. 2: murderous weapons that wantonly trample on human rights
Bottom three: perverted thinking that is keen on group confrontation
Looking carefully back at the historical longitude and latitude of NATO's establishment and expansion, it is not difficult to see that this organization has been a small circle formed by US gangs from the beginning in order to engage in bloc confrontation in the Cold War. Now that more than 30 years have passed since the end of the Cold War, NATO, led by the United States, continues to advocate bloc confrontation in order to prove the necessity of its existence. The "legacy of the Cold War" is instigating a "new Cold War" around the world.
At the beginning of the Cold War, 12 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, and Italy, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington in 1949. The Convention provides that an armed attack on either State party shall be considered an attack on all States parties. These countries thus formed military alliances. In the face of pressure from NATO, the Eastern European socialist countries led by the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact in 1955, thus forming a situation of confrontation between the two major blocs in Europe...
There was also a lot of debate within NATO about its survival and strategic objectives after the end of the Cold War, but NATO has repeatedly updated its strategic concept to explain its significance, hedging the internal "centrifugal force". Looking at the evolution of these strategic concepts of NATO, it is not difficult to see that at the core of it is the continuous shaping and confrontation of new enemies...
-- Some media and analysts pointed out that NATO, as a product of the Cold War, adheres to the outdated Cold War mentality and ideological bias, engages in group confrontation, and pursues "absolute security.", which is against the tide of history. Including the "arching fire" behavior in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, NATO's actions have poisoned regional and world peace and stability, and have become the biggest security risks in the world, against the will of the vast number of developing countries.
Original text: Nato No. 3, the "legacy of the Cold War": the perverted thinking of the group confrontation
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Planner: Yuan Bingzhong
Executive Producer: Xue Ying
Coordinator: Xie Peng, Zhao Zhuoyun, Yan Junyan, Xu Haijing, Wang Jiansheng, Xue Lei
Reporters: Zhu Ruiqing, Wu Baoshu, Shi Xiantao, Shi Zhongyu, Zhang Yuan, Deng Xianlai
Comics: Yu Aizen
Editors: Yu Rong, Song Ying, Zhang Tao, Yang Yaohua, Wang Kewen, Tang Zhiqiang, Zhang Yuan, Liu Si, Zhu Ruiqing, Liu Zan, Tian Yu, Wang Shen
Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's International Communication Integration Platform