Why are the US and NATO Baiting Russia and China? Provocation, Bluster and Blowback

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/brian-cloughley/58238/why-are-the-us-and-nato-baiting-russia-and-china-provocation-bluster-and-blowback

Why are the US and NATO Baiting Russia and China? Provocation, Bluster and Blowback
China | NATO | Russia
by Brian Cloughley | September 11, 2014 - 11:36am

Washington’s provocative antics involving Russia and China are going too far. The immaturity of the pinpricks — Obama visiting Estonia, and Ukraine’s out-of-his-depth president Poroshenko being summoned to the NATO summit carnival: “Yah, Boo, Moscow!” — is pathetic, but there are more serious developments such as the US “moving tanks and 600 troops to Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for joint maneuvers in October.” Not that these war games are any threat, and Moscow will laugh at them, but Washington is deliberately boosting anti-Russia sentiment in a region that should devote its time to getting on with social and economic development — which is vigorously supported by Russia.

As even the devotedly anti-Putin Economist noted, “Russia is Lithuania’s largest trading partner, accounting for 25% of its total trade; the figure for Estonia and Latvia is around 10%. Agriculture and food-processing are especially dependent on Russian business, as are ports, transport and logistics. Most of all, the Baltic states depend on Russian energy, particularly gas. If Russia turned off the taps . . . it would take several years to find and route sufficient alternative gas supplies to the region.”

But Russia doesn’t want to turn off its gas taps to the Baltic states — or to anyone — because, quite simply, it makes good money from supplying gas and oil. It couldn’t get that money if it was at war with the states who now pay it for its products, so it doesn’t want to go to war with these countries — or with anyone — for that would incur severe economic penalties. It couldn’t be more obvious. But the people who are spoiling for a fight don’t see it that way.

That’s just the bear-baiting side of the Pentagon capers, and Washington is finding it equally satisfying to do a bit of dragon-taunting on the other side of the world, which is just as stupid and dangerous.