As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit begins Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, thousands have taken to the streets to protest the meeting of the alliance that has wreaked havoc from Yugoslavia to Iraq to Libya.
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While U.S. President Donald Trump chided its NATO allies for not funding more of the group’s militarism, European leaders approached the meeting with trepidation. On the campaign trail, Trump had called NATO “obsolete,” sending ripples of alarm among the European leaders of the imperial alliance.
Many of them are holding their breath, waiting for Trump to affirm Article 5 of the NATO charter — through which members pledge to jump to the aid of any member country that is attacked.
This Article was the exact reason NATO forces entered the so-called U.S. War on Terror in Afghanistan, a war that has seen well over 35,000 civilians killed, as well as more than 500,000 refugees.
Elsewhere, the group’s “peacekeeping” operations have fared no better.
Yugoslavia
On March 24, 1999, NATO began Operation Allied Force, a 78-day deadly and devastating U.S.-backed intervention of Yugoslavia. That plunder saw 5,700 people killed, including 400 children. Nearly 7000 people were wounded, while 821 people remain missing from the operation.
Iraq
When the War on Terror was declared against Iraq, NATO forces joined, using forbidden weapons, such as white phosphorus, that continue to devastate Iraqis today.
The war here has seen over 1 million Iraqis killed — the greatest loss in modern history.
Libya
In the regime-change operation that was disguised as a “people’s revolution,” NATO forces invaded Libya to overthrow its leader Muammar Gaddafi, which has resulted in Libya becoming a hotbed of extremist violence as well as slavery.
While in August 2011, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen claimed that the actions of the aviation forces in Libya caused no civilian casualties, the invasion killed more than 20,000 people and resulted in more than 350,000 people becoming refugees.
Demonstration by the World Peace Council against #NATOSummit in #Brussels.
— In Def. of Communism (@id_communism) May 24, 2017
Down with the #Imperialists. #NATOmeeting #Belgium pic.twitter.com/6Oa2CINYpZ
In the wake of this ongoing violence, thousands of protesters have gathered to protest, building on Wednesday's demonstrations that also saw thousands come out against both NATO and Trump’s arrival.
“(NATO) means an enormous amount of money dedicated to war and an enormous amount of money that is not dedicated to things like education, health care and those sorts of things,” said organizer Stephanie Demblon.