US ambassador to Estonia resigns over Trump policies and provocations

[Cujo]

US ambassador to Estonia resigns over Trump policies and provocations
Jim Melville, 33-year career US diplomat, posts decision online
Trump trashed Nato at G7, calling it ‘as bad as Nafta’

The US ambassador to Estonia has announced his resignation, citing Donald’s Trump’s disparagement of the European Union and Nato and adding to a steady trickle of career diplomats leaving in protest against the president’s policies.
Jim Melville, a 33-year diplomat who has been posted in Tallinn since 2015, was approaching retirement but announced his decision to leave early to friends in a private Facebook posting that was . The post refers to Trump’s remarks that have surfaced in the past week.


Melville wrote: “A Foreign Service Officer’s DNA is programmed to support policy and we’re schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honorable course is to resign. Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me.
“For the President to say the EU was ‘set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank’, or that ‘Nato is as bad as Nafta’ is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it’s time to go.”
The state department later confirmed that Melville would leave the foreign service on 29 July.
The resignation of a senior diplomat from a critical posting in eastern Europe comes at a time of rising apprehension among many US and European officials about Trump’s looming visit to Europe starting on 11 July. He will attend a Nato summit in Brussels then visit the UK, followed by a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
The greatest fear among allies is that the president will publicly lambast them over defence spending and call Nato into question, then make unplanned, unilateral concessions to Putin as he did to Kim Jong-un when he met the North Korean leader earlier this month.


In the Singapore summit with Kim, Trump offered to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea, pointing to their cost.


Jitters among Nato allies are likely to be heightened by a Washington Post report on Friday that the administration has ordered a review on the costs and effects of a large-scale withdrawal of US troops from Germany, against a backdrop of tensions with Angela Merkel.


European diplomats say Trump has become increasingly obsessed with Germany, complaining about its car exports to the US and plans to built the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Russia rather than buy more expensive LNG exports from the US. At the recent rancorous G7 summit in Quebec, Trump reportedly threw sweets down on the table in front of Merkel, saying: “Don’t say I never give you anything.”


Since Trump took office, there has been a steady outflow of diplomats and other state department employees, who have resigned in protest against his behaviour and policies.


The ambassador to Panama, John Feeley, resigned in December over Trump’s failure to criticise white supremacists. The same month, another well-regarded diplomat, Elizabeth Shackelford, left her job, blaming the administration’s abandonment of human rights as a priority and its general disdain for diplomacy.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...s-jim-melville


It seems to me the only person to benefit from the disbanding of NATO would be Russia which makes me wonder why Trump is trying to denigrate it.
Trump is in Putins pocket. His bitch.

[Neverna]

It's all about money and America for Trump, getting more money for the US - at almost any cost.

[jabir]

Merkel won't like the thought of having to defend herself, though even without American troops it's difficult to see Russian tanks plough across Poland to reach Ku'damm. Anyway, soon Europe will have the prestige of its own army to bleed the coffers dry, so who needs NATO.

[Klondyke]

Really a good ally - very valuable for a NATO...

Estonia celebrates a Nazi Criminal
27 JUNE 2018



n 22 June a commemorative plaque was dedicated to Colonel Alfons Rebane in Estonia.

Alfons Rebane collaborated with the Third Reich, holding the position of Standartenführer in the SS. He committed several war crimes in the Soviet Union.

The Estonian government did dissociate itself from this commemoration however it refused to go further and condemn it.

After the Second World War, Alfons Rebane collaborated with the United Kingdom in the context of a stay-behind operation (Gladio). Specifically, he participated in “Operation Jungle” aimed at allowing former Nazi officers to weave their way into the systems in Poland and the Baltic states and pursue the anti-communist fight. He even gave lessons at the MI6 Academy.

Estonia celebrates a Nazi Criminal

[Klondyke]

^My poor English does not enable me to understand what has made poor cyrille excited about my post (I did not celebrate the Nazi, did I?)

you really are such a fucking dick

[Klondyke]

Plaque honouring SS officer unveiled in Estonia
Town of Mustla reveals tribute to local Nazi collaborator Alfons Rebane, who fought alongside Nazi Germany
June 29, 2018,


http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/plaque-honouring-ss-officer-unveiled-in-estonia/

[bsnub]

The Estonian government did dissociate itself from this commemoration

So what is the problem? Nice source btw....

The Voltaire Network (French: Réseau Voltaire) is a Lebanon-based alternative media outlet with connections in South America and the Middle East that and expounds conspiracy theories, notably relating to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.^[1] The organisation was founded in 1994 as a left-wing think tank in support of free speech and secularism in France. It split in 2003 and was disbanded in 2007. It was re-founded as the International Voltaire Network (Réseau Voltaire International) in Lebanon and aimed at propagating conspiracy theories, support of Syrian and Iranian governments. Its current leader is Thierry Meyssan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaire_Network

Nice job if you intended to divert the discussion away from Trumps words being why the Ambassador resigned. Putin would be proud today of your work as a Russian bot.

[Neverna]

^My poor English does not enable me to understand what has made poor cyrille excited about my post (I did not celebrate the Nazi, did I?)

I don't know for sure as I'm not Cyrille nor a mind reader but perhaps it is because your article is off topic and nothing at all to do with a US ambassador resigning due to US president Donald Trump's policies.

[bsnub]

your article is off topic and nothing at all to do with a US ambassador resigning due to US president Donald Trump's policies.

Bingo!

[Cujo]

Really a good ally - very valuable for a NATO...

Estonia celebrates a Nazi Criminal
27 JUNE 2018



n 22 June a commemorative plaque was dedicated to Colonel Alfons Rebane in Estonia.

Alfons Rebane collaborated with the Third Reich, holding the position of Standartenführer in the SS. He committed several war crimes in the Soviet Union.

The Estonian government did dissociate itself from this commemoration however it refused to go further and condemn it.

After the Second World War, Alfons Rebane collaborated with the United Kingdom in the context of a stay-behind operation (Gladio). Specifically, he participated in “Operation Jungle” aimed at allowing former Nazi officers to weave their way into the systems in Poland and the Baltic states and pursue the anti-communist fight. He even gave lessons at the MI6 Academy.

Estonia celebrates a Nazi Criminal

Whats that got to do with anything?

[Klondyke]

I don't know for sure as I'm not Cyrille nor a mind reader but perhaps it is because your article is off topic and nothing at all to do with a US ambassador resigning due to US president Donald Trump's policies.

Amazing when something not very convenient to see is always classified as "off topic"... Otherwise, in other cases (just blabla), 50% of all posts could be "off topic"...

Speaking of "provocations": That's why all these baltic states of former CCCP (former and present Nazi-friendly) are in NATO for...

[SKkin]

so who needs NATO.

NATO's reason for existence collapsed along with the Soviet Union in 1991.

[harrybarracuda]

NATO's reason for existence collapsed along with the Soviet Union in 1991.

And then reemerged when Putin invaded and annexed part of the sovereign state of Ukraine.

[tomcat]

NATO's reason for existence collapsed along with the Soviet Union in 1991.

...the military-industrial complex might disagree with you...

[SKkin]

...the military-industrial complex might disagree with you...

I get that a lot...

And then reemerged when Putin invaded and annexed part of the sovereign state of Ukraine.

[jabir]

And then reemerged when Putin invaded and annexed part of the sovereign state of Ukraine.

Not sure of that, with or without NATO can anyone honestly see Putin striding down Potsdamer Platz with bits of Poland sticking out of his back pocket? And soon the EU's top shelf army at bargain basement premiums will defend the integrity of that great Socialist project until it implodes, then probably a nice friendly squabble over who gets what as much of it ends up in the Middle East and at the local flea markets. And then probably another Franco-Kraut war with both sides blaming Brexit or bitcoin.

[Klondyke]

Off- topic?

Jitters among Nato allies are likely to be heightened by a Washington Post report on Friday that the administration has ordered a review on the costs and effects of a large-scale withdrawal of US troops from Germany, against a backdrop of tensions with Angela Merkel.
---
It seems to me the only person to benefit from the disbanding of NATO would be Russia which makes me wonder why Trump is trying to denigrate it.
Trump is in Putins pocket. His bitch.

Estonia is a member of the European Union; an organization that purports to fight for peace in Europe and against the resurgence of Nazi racism.

Estonia celebrates a Nazi Criminal

Is the NATO's purpose to fight for peace in Europe and against the resurgence of Nazi racism?

[SKkin]

NATO's purpose

I understood that it was birthed to "stop the spread of communism" and/or to protect Europe from the Soviet Union.

[HuangLao]

I understood that it was birthed to "stop the spread of communism" and/or to protect Europe from the Soviet Union.

NATO = just another invented imperial device.

[cisco999]

That'd definitely be a start.

[harrybarracuda]

Not sure of that, with or without NATO can anyone honestly see Putin striding down Potsdamer Platz with bits of Poland sticking out of his back pocket? And soon the EU's top shelf army at bargain basement premiums will defend the integrity of that great Socialist project until it implodes, then probably a nice friendly squabble over who gets what as much of it ends up in the Middle East and at the local flea markets. And then probably another Franco-Kraut war with both sides blaming Brexit or bitcoin.

Could anyone see Hitler strolling down the Champs Elysee after the Anschluss?

[VocalNeal]

NATO = just another invented imperial device.

...and I thought it was No Action Talk Only

[Klondyke]

...and I thought it was No Action Talk Only

Tell it to people in Yugoslavia, Afgh., Iraq, Libya, you name it...

[jabir]

Could anyone see Hitler strolling down the Champs Elysee after the Anschluss?

Nope, but Putin has to get through quite a few countries protected by glorious EU forces before being invited to review the white flags in Paris. And then he'll have a rather irritated Britain to contend with.

[tomcat]

Putin has to get through quite a few countries protected by glorious EU forces before being invited to review the white flags in Paris

...so, 2-3 days then...