Margaret Thatcher - The Iron Lady Was Right

Years ago,  Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain was completely opposed to Western European dependence on Russian Oil and Gas.  She warned that one day Europe could be held hostage by Russia in the event of a conflict.  The Socialists made fun of Thatcher calling her a grocer's daughter the same way they made fun of Ronald Reagan calling him a B-Movie Actor and Cowboy.  The fact is that both Thatcher and Reagan were brilliant global strategists who had a clear understanding of geopolitics.  It was they with the help of Pope John Paul II who brought down the Soviet Union and ended Communism in Europe.  

So here we are today.  Germany gets 60% of its energy from Russia.  In their stupid attempt to go Green going solar in a country that does not have much sun in winter and building windmills, they have closed down their nuclear plants.  Germany does not even have a single Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in any of its ports, which would have allowed the US to ship them all the gas they could possibly need.  German politicians reasoned that if they tied their country to Russia it would bring peace and stability for Europe.  WRONG!  If Russia invades Ukraine, the US will be forced to shut down the natural gas pipeline being built between Russia and Germany.  The only other pipeline that gets Russian energy to Europe goes through Ukraine; but presumably there will be a sanction on all Russian energy if Ukraine is invaded.  This will make for a very cold winter in Germany.  

France at least has been much smarter.  Most of the energy that powers France comes from nuclear energy so they cannot be held hostage by Russia.  Britain has North Sea Oil; but they too have been pushing for Green Energy that cannot power their country.  And, while the US was energy independent when Trump was President for the first time in decades, feckless and stupid Joe Biden ended all that by Executive Orders that has curtailed energy production in the United States.  So, if Russian oil and gas supplies are interrupted,  people in the United States will see the cost of energy go through the roof.  It is already happening as the average price of gallon of gas when Trump was President was $1.87.  It is $4.00 today and in places like California, it is over $5 a gallon.  

Margaret Thatcher is laughing in her grave.  She gets to say I told you so; but of course stupid Socialists in Europe and the United States have long forgotten her warnings because they were derided by them at the time.  The only way to solve the Ukraine problem is to invite Russia to join NATO.  Why not?  Russia is part of Europe and China is our real problem not Russia.  Unfortunately, we don't have any brilliant geopolitical strategists in office these days.  President Trump got it. Hopefully, he will be back in office in 2024 to clean up the messes Biden leaves behind.