8/30/2018, Newsweek: “Even though he [McCain] was an American senator,“ across Europe we all felt that John McCain III was one of our own.”” ..”In an open letter published in The Times, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Lord George Robertson of Port Ellen and Javier Solana suggested that McCain’s life and work embody the values around which NATO is built, and that naming the new [$1.23 billion Brussels] building after him would be a fitting tribute. In the message, the veteran diplomats write that even though he was an American senator, “across Europe we all felt that John McCain III was one of our own.”” More on new NATO building.
…………………..
May 14, 2018, “John McCain: A Life Wasted?“ by Raul Ilargi Meijer, The Automatic Earth blog
“What’s happening to John McCain is tragic. It’s not something one should ever wish upon another human being...But it’s good to remember that his brain tumor is not the most tragic part of McCain's life on earth. And no, neither is his time as prisoner of war in Vietnam.
McCain’s main tragedy is that he didn’t learn the one lesson he should have learned about his time in Vietnam, and didn’t turn his back on warfare. Instead, he turned into the biggest and loudest pro-war campaigner in Washington for decades. Talk about a missed opportunity, a life wasted. If there was one person who was presented with the first-hand experience needed to turn against bloodshed, it was John McCain.
What’s more, during his time in the House and later the Senate, McCain completely missed out on a development that might yet have changed his mind. That is, wars became unwinnable. Something even that the US losing their war in Vietnam might have taught him. It entirely passed him by. McCain still never saw an opportunity to wage battle somewhere, anywhere on the planet, that he didn’t like.
That makes him a dinosaur and a fossil who should never have been allowed to remain in the Senate for as long as he did. At the age of 81, and after ‘serving’ for 35 years in Washington, it apparently becomes too difficult to see how the world outside changes, let alone to adapt to those changes. If you limit the time a president can serve, why not do the same for senators? Is it because those same senators would have to vote on that?
Moreover, if wars are unwinnable, but you incessantly call for new wars anyway, then regardless of moral issues about going to war in the first place,you have de facto become a threat to your own people and your own country that you purport to serve. Especially, and first of all, to the American soldiers you desire to send out there to fight those wars. But also a threat to the image of America around the globe.
When wars are unwinnable, there is no reason to fight them. Again, even apart from morals and ethics. You will have to find other ways to deal with ‘elements’ that feel and act less than friendly towards you. To find out what, it helps to realize that they understand it’s just as futile for them to attack you militarily as it is for you to attack them. It also helps to figure out why they are unfriendly. What doesn’t help is to take yet another stab at Putin and say “Vladimir Putin is an evil man, and he is intent on evil deeds”, as McCain does in a forthcoming book. If that’s the best you can do, your best-by date has long since passed. That’s language fit for a 4-year old. And George W.
McCain’s father and grandfather were both 4-star US Navy admirals. Perhaps that partly explains his blindness to the evils of war, and the role the US has played in many conflicts, including -but certainly not limited to- Vietnam. It’s hard to imagine Apocalypse Now, Platoon or Full Metal Jacket being McCain’s favorite Hollywood classics.
And that is a bigger problem than it may seem. Because America has indeed been able to paint a vivid portrait for itself of why Vietnam was such an insane venture that should never have happened, and certainly not repeated. If your culture has the ability to put that in words and images, and as a nation you still don’t learn the lesson embedded in them, you’re pretty much lost.
Oh, and besides, you lost too, remember? You lost the war and the lives and limbs of tens of thousands of young Americans and over a million Vietnamese. To have been part of that and then turn around and strive to be Washington’s premier warmonger, that’s just totally bonkers. Or worse....
Unwinnable wars are bad news for the weapons industry. They will deny the existence of even such a concept as long and as strongly as they can. Because if you can’t win a war, why wage them? There will continue to be technological developments, but there’s no “throughput”. You can fire some missiles into some desert somewhere from time to time, and that’s it.
The military-industrial complex is happy only…if and when guns and missiles and jets constantly need to be replaced because they’ve been lost in a theater of war, along with young Americans. McCain knows this better than most. And he knows the captains of this complex, both the military side and the weapons producers. Far too well.
Being as beholden as it is to the arms makers and dealers, has made America lose whatever edge it once had militarily. In the US weapons are developed and sold to generate the largest profits possible; in Russia, they are developed to protect the country. This is largely why the American defense budget is 10 times larger than its Russian counterpart. All this happened on John McCain’s watch.
The entire narrative of “protecting and sharing our values” has become hollow propaganda. Because the US has engaged its military in more theaters of war and invasion than we can even keep track of anymore. The US armed forces don’t protect democracy or human rights around the world, they protect the financial interests of America’s elites, including the military-industrial complex. Does anyone believe John McCain doesn’t know this?
Unbeknownst to John McCain, the world has entered a whole new era. And this didn’t happen yesterday. Russia and China may have only recently announced new hypersonic missile technology, but it didn’t fall out of the sky. It does profoundly change things though. It ends all notions and dreams of American exceptionalism and unilateralism.
And America needs to learn that lesson. It will have to do it without John McCain. And it might as well, because McCain was incapable of changing, and of seeing the changes around him. But the American view of the world will have to change, because the world itself has.
Still, you’re right: the real tragedy is not that John McCain wasted his own life. It’s that he helped destroy so many others.“
.......................
Two among comments:
Two among comments:
………………………
#40644
“McCain is not like you and me, because he craved power, and when he got it, he used it to kill, maim, and destroy without reservation, without restraint, and without boundary. He describes Putin as evil, but without decrying the plank in our own eye? He has nothing to say worth listening to, and I will not miss him.”
#40644
“McCain is not like you and me, because he craved power, and when he got it, he used it to kill, maim, and destroy without reservation, without restraint, and without boundary. He describes Putin as evil, but without decrying the plank in our own eye? He has nothing to say worth listening to, and I will not miss him.”
………………..
#40650
“McCain knows that to maintain the US Empire, it has to bully the smaller countries into alignment with US interests. So he is locked in to being a hawk, no escape. Bolton and Pompeo the same. And they have convinced Trump, if he wasn’t already on board with the imperial plan. WW3 is inevitable under these circumstances. How can they extricate themselves from Korea merely to make peace with Kim’s piddling little country?! – they can’t, Empires don’t collapse gracefully.”
#40650
“McCain knows that to maintain the US Empire, it has to bully the smaller countries into alignment with US interests. So he is locked in to being a hawk, no escape. Bolton and Pompeo the same. And they have convinced Trump, if he wasn’t already on board with the imperial plan. WW3 is inevitable under these circumstances. How can they extricate themselves from Korea merely to make peace with Kim’s piddling little country?! – they can’t, Empires don’t collapse gracefully.”
…………………………………
………………….
Added: NATO was created in 1949 to “stop” the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union ceased to exist on 1/31/1991, the Warsaw Pact was abandoned in mid-1991, NATO should’ve been, but instead the US has continually expanded it. For what enemy? Answer: US taxpayers. Our mere existence horrifies US elites. We had to be permanently marginalized. So we were sold as slaves to the Endless Unwinnable War Industry and NATO's brand new $1.23 billion headquarters:
Grotesquely glistening imperial swimming pool in new NATO HQ, 2017:
Above pool in new NATO hq, via Assar architects
Above, new NATO hq via Assar architects
Above, new NATO hq via Assar
.................
Added: NATO was created in 1949 to “stop” the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union ceased to exist on 1/31/1991, the Warsaw Pact was abandoned in mid-1991, NATO should’ve been, but instead the US has continually expanded it. For what enemy? Answer: US taxpayers. Our mere existence horrifies US elites. We had to be permanently marginalized. So we were sold as slaves to the Endless Unwinnable War Industry and NATO's brand new $1.23 billion headquarters:
Grotesquely glistening imperial swimming pool in new NATO HQ, 2017:
Above pool in new NATO hq, via Assar architects
Above, new NATO hq via Assar architects
Above, new NATO hq via Assar
.................
……….
Image above, New NATO hq, frontnews.eu, 2017
“New NATO HQ,” nato.int
“The decision to replace the existing HQ was taken at the Washington Summit in 1999. NATO decided to build a new headquarters because the current building is at the end of its economic lifespan and no longer meets NATO’s needs. NATO has been based in the current building since 1967. Since then, the number of NATO members has almost doubled from 15 to 28 countries; a large number of Partners have also opened their diplomatic representations at NATO. The new HQ will provide the space for:
• 1500 personnel from 28 national delegations,
“New NATO HQ,” nato.int
“The decision to replace the existing HQ was taken at the Washington Summit in 1999. NATO decided to build a new headquarters because the current building is at the end of its economic lifespan and no longer meets NATO’s needs. NATO has been based in the current building since 1967. Since then, the number of NATO members has almost doubled from 15 to 28 countries; a large number of Partners have also opened their diplomatic representations at NATO. The new HQ will provide the space for:
• 1500 personnel from 28 national delegations,
• 800 staff from NATO agencies.
• Currently an average of 500 visitors per day
The new headquarters will provide over 254,000 m2 of space and the design of the building will allow for further expansion if needed. The move will make space available for the growing number of Partners’ offices, who will be located in a separate building on the NATO campus.
Original contracts and costs Awarded contract costs:
• Demolition – De Meuter/Interbuild/CEI/DeMeyer, 10 M€
The new headquarters will provide over 254,000 m2 of space and the design of the building will allow for further expansion if needed. The move will make space available for the growing number of Partners’ offices, who will be located in a separate building on the NATO campus.
Original contracts and costs Awarded contract costs:
• Demolition – De Meuter/Interbuild/CEI/DeMeyer, 10 M€
• Architecture, Design, Quality Mgmt – SOM-ASSAR, ACG, SOCOTEC, SNC- LAVALIN, 115 M€
• Construction – BAM Alliance 458 M€
• Electronic Security – Siemens / Putman 17 M€
• Audio Visual Installations – Televic, 26 M€
• Active Network – Lockheed Martin (now Leidos), 62 M€
• Other contracts, including additional IT, and furniture – approx. 60M€
*Additional costs for: NATO Governance and Transition, Annual Revision, Contingencies, Construction security and Claim settlements Total project costs: 1.1 B€ [Euros]
February 2017© SOM + assar architects
A green building for the future: The new headquarters has been built with the future in mind. The design includes flexible space that can accommodate changing requirements and has incorporated modern information and communications technology. The environment and sustainability have played a major role in the design process. The new building’s energy consumption has been optimized through the use of geothermal and solar energy and advanced lighting systems. Thermal insulation, thermal inertia and solar protection have been incorporated in the design to reduce heating. Rainwater will be used for non-potable water use and the buildings short wings will have green roofs.
Timeline of the new NATO Headquarters decision and contracts
• 1999 At the Washington Summit the decision was taken to replace the current HQ.
A green building for the future: The new headquarters has been built with the future in mind. The design includes flexible space that can accommodate changing requirements and has incorporated modern information and communications technology. The environment and sustainability have played a major role in the design process. The new building’s energy consumption has been optimized through the use of geothermal and solar energy and advanced lighting systems. Thermal insulation, thermal inertia and solar protection have been incorporated in the design to reduce heating. Rainwater will be used for non-potable water use and the buildings short wings will have green roofs.
Timeline of the new NATO Headquarters decision and contracts
• 1999 At the Washington Summit the decision was taken to replace the current HQ.
• 2001 Dean of the NAC chaired an Architectural Design Competition for the NNHQ.
• 2003 SOM+ASSAR won the Architectural Design Competition.
• 2004 North Atlantic Council asked Belgium to manage the project on NATO’s behalf.
• 2004 Belgium accepted to take on Host Nation responsibilities.
• 2004 Architectural Design / Engineering Contract was awarded to SOM+ASSAR.
• 2007 Belgium launched an Information Notification for the construction contract.
• 2008 Belgium received expressions of interest from potential bidders
.• 2009 Belgium issued the invitation for bids to selected firms.
• 2010 BAM Alliance was selected and awarded the construction contract.
• 2010 BAM Alliance started the construction works.
• 2013 Siemens / Putman was awarded the contract for Electronic Security Services.
• 2013 Televic was awarded the contract for Audio Visual Installations.
• 2013 Lockheed Martin (now Leidos) was awarded the contract for Active Network Infrastructure.
• 2016 Construction works start reaching their final stages. IT infrastructure is being deployed progressively
.• 2017 (expected) Handover of the new building to NATO by Host Nation Belgium.The facilities and systems start to be commissioned and tested, the building becomes operational progressively. NATO’s main move to the new headquarters is due to be completed later in 2017.”
..............
No comments:
Post a Comment