The Unz Review The good news is that today is Pearl Harbor Day, which brought about the US entry in World War II, a war that never would have been fought if sanity had prevailed among leading statesmen of that era. The lesson-learned for today should be about the steps that could have and should have been taken to avoid war. And there is more good news in that the United States National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), that pork laden mish-mosh that pretends to be serious legislation responsive to the nation’s actual defense needs, is hung up in the Senate, something that has not happened for the past sixty years. But then comes the bad news. The bill is being blocked by several Republican Senators who want to make it nastier, using increased sanctions to halt the Russo-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline while also banning imports from China’s Xinjiang region, where some administration officials have accused the government of carrying out genocide against Uyghur Muslims.
The GOP Senators also want to sanction the gas pipeline to warn Russia of consequences over possible military action against Ukraine, putting even more pressure on Germany to pull out of the deal, which is already under severe strain due to Washington’s sanctions. The ban on trade with China is likewise intended to send a signal to Beijing that even what it does internally is not off limits if one wants to avoid the wrath of the US Congress….
