Mark Rutte makes the Netherlands targeted for Russian missiles
Columnist Zihni Ozdil is visible about how Rutte defied a criminal with nuclear weapons during his visit to Biden this week. ‘Rutte might as well have said: ‘Hey Putin, shoot the Netherlands!’
‘Experts from the RAND Corporation developed four scenarios for a possible worsening of the conflict between Russia and NATO. In scenario D, Russia will launch immediate missile strikes against six alliance air and sea ports, including the Ramstein base and the port of Rotterdam.
Zihni Özdil (1981) is a historian. Every Saturday he writes a column for ewmagazine.nl.
You read it right. Although it is a hypothetical scenario, the train of thought is not unrealistic. The fact that Rotterdam and the Netherlands are in the event of an escalation, for example, will also be made widely discussed in the Russian media.
Everyone in the rest of the world knows that the Netherlands is on Russia’s radar. Because we are a supply port for weapons. But also, if things escalate into a nuclear war, because we stand with American nuclear weapons at Volkel.
But in the Netherlands you hear and read almost nothing about this important Dutch matter. Because the public ‘debate’ in the Netherlands about Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine is incredibly petty.
Macron and Scholz struggle
If you call for peace, you are immediately a ‘Putin apologist’ in the Netherlands. Never mind if you point out that we are in the direct line of fire in the event of a possible escalation.
In countries around us where there is a healthy open debate, people know better. For example, look at France and Germany. Macron and Scholz struggle against sending more heavy weapons to Ukraine. Are they supporters of Putin? Or do they know full well what will happen if you continue to defy a nuclear superpower?
What we all think is irrelevant
Let’s look at the facts. Putin has been escalating heavily for some time now. He destroyed Ukraine’s infrastructure and no longer shuns civilian targets. And he is mobilizing. He will soon try to overwhelm the country with perhaps 500,000 extra soldiers.
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