On Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 10:06:10 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
Over 4 years, Oliver Stone had recorded over 20 hours of interview with Putin. If face time is the criteria, he belong to a tiny group of Americans who know Putin very well. Among other issues, Oliver Stone had shown a clip in which Putin explained his
concern with NATO.
Transcript:
"Nowadays, NATO is a mere instrument of foreign policy of the U.S. It has no allies, it only has vassals. Once a country becomes a NATO member, it is hard to resist US pressures. And all of a sudden, any weapon systems can be placed in this country. An
anti- ballistic missile system, new military bases, and if needed be, new offensive system. And what are we supposed to do?"
Oliver Stone also tried to debunk the idea that Moscow had hacked the US election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiuplgzbCC4
Another issue that pitted US against Russia is weapon sales. The WSJ has a piece today entitled "There’s a Better Way to Sell American Weapons"
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sell-american-weapons-arms-russia-sanctions-discounts-military-s-400-turkey-caatsa-nato-india-egypt-uae-united-arab-emirates-ukraine-putin-11648670749?mod=opinion_lead_pos8
"America’s most notable attempt to dissuade countries from buying Russian arms was the bipartisan 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries
Through Sanctions Act, known by the acronym Caatsa, which included a directive to impose sanctions on nations that engage in a “significant
transaction” with Russia’s defense or intelligence sectors. Penalties entail a range of financial restrictions, including on exports and loans as
well as on banking transactions with U.S. institutions.
...
The complacent U.S. defense establishment too often sees itself as the “preferred partner of choice” for foreign customers, viewing U.S. materiel
and support as superior to its competitors’ despite onerous bureaucratic obstacles, long delivery times and often less-than-competitive price tags
for U.S. arms. It must take a hard look at itself to see these deficiencies and address the reasonable complaints of its partners."
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)