Russia's war spilled over onto NATO territory. The time to act has come.
I have seen enough from my position. We have a lot of "fixers" for the problems we have today, but there hasn't yet been a solution. That's because we have been brought to the point where military action is our only viable option. Anything else would be a delay of the inevitable, at the expense of more human life. In my view, we have been led down this road because of decades of weak leadership in both Europe and America. Described in the letter below is just one example- yet it is a decisive one, and you may find that I am the first to report this to you.
Please just know that I never wanted this.
Sincerely,
Alex
Scroll all the way down to submit your signature to this letter.
AUDIO OF LETTER:
Sept 15, 2023
To my Friends of Romania & Members of the International Community:
Increasingly
over recent months and weeks, NATO allowed Russia to make multiple
attacks so close to the Romanian border, that as of this letter, drone
debris was found on three separate incidences on Romanian territory.
NATO has done nothing to attempt to shoot down any of the Russian
drones. Instead, NATO avoided confrontation with Russia, which puts the
many lives of Romanian citizens who live along the Danube River at risk.
This letter calls on friends of the Romanian-American community to
implore NATO to take military action against Russia.
It is an
imperative American interest that European allies of the United States
band with our American efforts in supporting the defense of Ukraine.
As
allied partners of the NATO defense alliance, it is important that
Romania work with the US in supporting our shared goal of security in
the Euro Atlantic and demonstrate a zero tolerance against Russian
aggression. Any subtle deviation from this policy would be the
equivalent to placation of the aggressor.
Yet, the Romanian
government has recently given the appearance of a detraction from the
US-NATO alliance shared goal to defend “every inch of NATO territory”,
and has raised the question whether NATO would re-calibrate those red
lines for which they promised to defend every inch.
How can NATO
maintain its credibility as the most powerful defense alliance in the
world, when Russia's war has begun to spillover onto NATO territory?
As
many members of the Romanian community may know, Russia has made recent
attacks on Ukraine’s Izmail ports, just less than 1 kilometer from the
Romanian border. These progressively intensifying attacks have spanned
from July to present. Below is a non-exhaustive timeline of the events
of Russia's attacks along the Danube River, about half a mile from
NATO's border:
Reni - July 24, 2023 - https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-drone-strikes-ukraine/32516251.html
Izmail & Reni - Aug 2, 2023 - https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/09/3/7418279/
Izmail & Reni - Aug 16, 2023 - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/world/europe/russia-drone-attack-danube-port-ukraine.html
Izmail Sep 6, 2023 - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66725752
Izmail & Reni - Sept 12, 2023 - https://finance.yahoo.com/news/izmail-port-infrastructure-damaged-russias-034859425.html
Immediately
after the first attacks, reports surfaced that debris from Russia’s
Iranian-made Shaheed drones hit Romania’s territory. But initially, the
Romanian President Angel Tilvar denied it. https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-president-russian-attacks-territory/32579844.html
Later
on, the Romanian Defense Minister Klaus Iohannis confirmed that the
debris from the Russian Shaheed drones did indeed fall on Romanian
territory. https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-minister-russian-drone-strike/32580914.html
In fact, there was “talk” of whether to issue an evacuation order in Romanian border town Plauru nearby the Danube river. https://www.newsweek.com/nato-romania-evacuation-plauru-russian-drone-attack-ukraine-1825483
Amid
another Russian attack, Romania finally ordered the villages of Tulcea
District to seek shelter this week. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/21575
By Sept 14, Romanian officials have issued flight restrictions over its border villages. https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-airspace-ukraine-border/32593303.html
With all of this, still no active response from NATO.
As
a NATO territory is now under active threat status, one would think
such a drastic shift in the war would gain more global coverage.
One
must wonder whether the Romanian government’s initial evasion of facts
regarding the Russian drone debris, coupled with the delay in evacuation
order and under-reporting, if Romania actually intends to turn a blind
eye to Russia’s attacks.
One must also wonder if this is a signal
to the US that our NATO allied partners do not in fact want to stand up
to Russia, and instead of deterrence, would prefer to “defer” by
ignoring Russia’s aggression, instead.
Afterall, NATO
Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana said on Monday there is “no risk”
that Alliance member Romania will be “dragged into a war”. https://apnews.com/article/romania-ukraine-nato-russia-war-drones-8a80bf6604bbd5506d1eef1358ddc9c2
Yet
dragging their feet, Romania and NATO fell short of stopping Russia’s
attacks on Romania, or even at the very least warning Russia. Instead,
they contemplated evacuation orders for Romanians to flee their own
homes, while assuring their would be no confronting of the aggressor.
This is not what we call being "proactive". This is not even we call being "reactive". This is absolute passivity,
It’s
curious that instead of sending a message to the world on what Romania
and NATO will do, NATO instead sent the message of what they will not
do. They will not do battle with Russia.
In the American view, it
is clear that our NATO allies have chosen weakness, instead of
strength, only to reassure Russia that they can continue their war
crimes in Ukraine, and go even as far as to creep on the doorstep of
NATO, and NATO will not so much as lift a finger.
As the greatest
contributor to the NATO defense alliance, it is unacceptable to
Americans that Europe can stand by and watch the decimation of
Ukraine—who’s “rightful place is in NATO”, just as it is unacceptable
for Romanians to stand by as war has begun to encroach on Romanian-NATO
territory. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-stoltenberg-dd2432f52abc743a5f3592cec210a69e
Once
Romania’s government confirmed the drone debris fell in Romania, NATO’s
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg denied any evidence that Russia
acted with intent, and stated the following, "We don't have any
information indicating an intentional attack by Russia, and we are
awaiting the outcome of the ongoing investigation." https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-does-not-see-indication-intentional-russian-attack-romania-2023-09-07/
Russia's
inculpability was again reiterated by NATO Deputy Geoana, who said this
week, “The most important thing is to re-confirm the fact that there is
no indication of a deliberate action (by Russia) to strike Romanian
territory and therefore NATO territory." https://apnews.com/article/romania-ukraine-nato-russia-war-drones-8a80bf6604bbd5506d1eef1358ddc9c2
In
the American view of intent, Russia acted with intent to attack NATO
territory, whether directly or indirectly, because Russia used the
Iranian-made Shahed drones – which in terms of accuracy are known to be
“blind as a bat”—to make a strike within 1 mile of NATO territory. https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/10/irans-shahed-136-kamikaze-drone-everything-you-need-to-know/
Additionally,
Russia blatantly admitted to the attacks, with false claims there were
military targets but which were actually revealed to be grain
infrastructure critical to global food supply. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-struck-port-grain-military-facilities-ukraines-izmail-ria-2023-08-02/
After
claiming responsibility and continuing the attacks on the Danube for
weeks on end, it’s undeniable that Russia knowingly calculated Shahed
trajectories based on maximum damage to the entire area that included
Romania by default.
As Russia’s attacks on the Danube continue,
it’s becoming increasingly likely that Russia is intentionally targets
the border areas of Romania to test Romania's resolve.
Judging by
the proximity, inaccuracy, and intensification of the attacks, there is
no question that Russia acted with intent. In fact, it screams
vehemently into our faces that Russia again tests global security. Yet
the relevance of "intent" is not just paramount for Romania, but for
NATO as a whole.
That is why it is so puzzling that Stoltenberg and Geoana were so quick to deny intent.
If
we truly examine intent, it would seem that NATO’s actions with regard
to Romania have so far proven to Russia that it does not actually intend
defend every inch of NATO territory.
You see, in America, we would never tolerate such attacks, whether it was on our soil or just outside our borders.
At
present, the US has hundreds of thousands of American troops stationed
along the Eastern line of NATO territory, precisely for the purpose of
defending Europe against Russia, as we sit and watch Russia continuously
attack both Ukraine and now NATO’s border? https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3336756/nato-chief-takes-stock-of-challenging-year-vows-more-progress/
Jens
Stoltenberg recently suggested putting even more US troops in Romania
to actively defend Romania "We are now seriously considering a
significant increase of that presence, both in more troops, with more
air defence, with deterrence by defence, through defence, not only by
sending a message of NATO presence." https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/opinions_192739.htm
But what more has to happen in Romania for defence to kick in?
And
why should our US soldiers be expected to defend Romania, when the
leaders of our Romania and other NATO allied partners lack the sense of
urgency to defend even their own?
In order to guarantee security
in the Euro Atlantic, and the security of our troops stationed in NATO,
we Americans cannot have a NATO wherein our European allies refuse to
stand up to Russia. We cannot have this.
NATO is supposed to be a
defensive alliance, not an evasive alliance. Americans should view
Romania and NATO’s inaction as complicit indulgence in Russia’s appetite
for aggression.
The situation in Romania shows us that Europe is
not truly safe as Russia inches ever westward across Ukraine. If NATO
does not respond, then it will degrade it’s credibility in maintaining
security in the Euro Atlantic. We Americans do not want to lose
confidence in our security alliance.
So far, only Ukraine has
exemplified it has what it takes to take military action against Russia.
NATO has only exemplified that it will stand by and watch.
In
order to restore the honor and prestige of NATO's commitments, it is
imperative that NATO exerts force against Russia and ends its brutal
invasion in Ukraine. Until then, there is no true guarantee of long-term
security in Europe.
I request our friends with the
Romanian-American community, as well as members of the international
community, to demand that NATO take decisive military action and
directly respond to Russia’s aggression on Romanian AND Ukrainian
territory, because as Russia’s war invasion in Ukraine rages onward, war
spills over into Romania, we cannot tolerate another day with Russia’s
aggression in the European continent.
Written & Signed by:
Alexandra Zakhvatayev
US Citizen of the State of Florida
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