Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Cornel West for President
CornelWest2024.com
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Los Angeles - “What is needed now is not a path for NATO membership, but a path for peace,” says Dr. West, reacting to the news that the Summit did not invite Ukraine to join the alliance at this time. “But instead of seeking a negotiated solution to Russia’s criminal invasion - provoked by NATO expansion and nuclear-capable missiles - NATO’s been shunning peace talks and threatening Russia, violating its 1990 pledge not to move ‘one inch’ to the east. NATO is also pushing the world towards greater militarization at this most perilous moment in history. We need to put our resources into solving the climate crisis that threatens the future of this planet, and abolishing global poverty that devastates the lives of billions of our brothers and sisters worldwide. We need food, not bombs. We need healthcare, not warfare. We need to invest in the climate, not killing.”
While NATO did not exacerbate the Ukraine conflict by offering Ukraine a set date for membership, NATO members are still fueling the war with increasingly destructive weapons–from cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells to Cruise missiles and F-16s–weapons that move us ever closer to potential nuclear war with Russia.
West believes that those who seek peace must not only call for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but must also take a position against NATO itself. “NATO is an expanding instrument of U.S. global power that provoked Russia into this war, a proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation that could lead to World War III,” warns West.
For decades, NATO has been involved in wars from Kosovo to Afghanistan to Libya. And it now has its sights set on China, building up a provocative Asia-Pacific military alliance with South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to counter China.
Next year, the NATO Summit will be held in Washington DC, marking NATO’s 75th anniversary. “We need to build up a global peace movement that says 75 years is enough!,” says West. “Without NATO, Europe would build its own security architecture. Without NATO, we in the U.S. would be in a better position to build peaceful relations with China. Without NATO, the world would be a safer place.”
Press release at https://www.cornelwest2024.com/press_release_071223
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