NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg addressed the US Congress on Wednesday, and continued to push the familiar narrative of Russia posing a broad, multi-faceted, but largely undefined “threat,” and that only the NATO alliance would be able to stop them.



This is a popular excuse for Western officials trying to justify growing military spending and aggressive posture, and particularly when addressing the US Congress, claiming a threat by Russia is usually a winning strategy.



Stoltenberg gave lip-service to the idea that NATO might have to deploy nuclear missiles into Europe to target Russia, saying that they didn’t intend to do so but might have to for deterrence purposes.



Congress was a perfect audience for this perspective, repeatedly giving standing ovations to the NATO chief, and ending the speech by reiterating America’s commitment to the alliance.

Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz