“A historic sham”: Zelensky’s speech to Greece’s parliament sparks national outrage, opens WWII-era wounds

By inviting an Azov fighter to address Greece’s parliament, Zelensky opened the country’s historic wounds and triggered angry demonstrations that have shaken its pro-US government.

 

by TJ Coles

 

Part 5 - The CIA transforms “an unreliable and troublesome partner” into a dependable ally

 

An undated US State Department review stated that if the right-wing New Democracy party won the 1981 elections, “Greece would remain stable and its Western ties would be consolidated.” If, however, Papandreou’s Panhellenic Socialist Movement won, “Greece would … become an unreliable and troublesome partner for the US.” Papandreou won but, to the relief of the US, followed a pro-Washington course.

By decades’ end, the CIA could tolerate its former employee, writing that despite the rhetoric, Papandreou “reached an agreement on continued US basing” and that his “promised radical Socialist solution” ended with “austerity and fiscal restraint.” A Congressional Research Service report notes that, “Although his previous tenure (1981-89) was noted for its anti-American rhetoric, Papandreou has said that he wants good relations with the United States.”

The US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement 1990 allowed for the formal training of Greek forces by the US. Throughout the ‘90s, Greek forces benefited from America’s multimillion dollar International Military Education and Training Program.

According to the US Navy, “during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Greek Navy warships operated in the strait of Tiran alongside ships of the US, French, and Spanish navies” to enforce the strangulation of Iraq. In 1999, President Bill Clinton issued a kind of apology for his predecessors’ support for abuses.

In the same year, NATO bombed Serbia – the junction of an energy pipeline – under the pretext that an ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians was taking place. Indicative of Greece’s logistical importance to the US, forces were transported “from Germany through the ‘Eastern Swing Route’ rail lines down to Thessaloniki, Greece[,…] and back up to Skopje,” Macedonia.

Fifty years of US-British post-War terror failed to break the popular spirit. Ordinary Greeks protested the prospective involvement of their armed forces, blocking British trucks and pelting service personnel with rotten food.

After 9/11, Greece “contributed to the ISAF mission,” the so-called International Security Assistance Force that occupied Afghanistan, as well as to Operation Active Endeavor; one of the US-NATO post-9/11 naval projects in the Mediterranean. By 2003, however 94 percent of Greeks were opposed to the US-led invasion of Iraq, so direct participation by their leaders was ruled out. But through NATO, the US continued to modernize Greek’s military.

For instance, the 7th Army Training Command has a Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) in Germany, which is broadly part of the US Special Operations Command Europe. These commands oversee the International Special Training Center for NATO member states. Annual training included “evaluating urban terrain, shooting through window glass, as well as climbing and establishing hides in buildings.”

Source, links:

https://thegrayzone.com/2022/04/20/nazis-us-greece-route-russia/

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Zelensky and two Azov fighters speak inside the Greek parliament: One of the most disgraceful moments for the country that suffered most from the nazis