Does Israel’s recent attack on the Turkish ship, MV Blue Mamara, trigger NATO action? The Daily Kos has the relevant passages from the NATO charter.
Article 5:
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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And Article 6:
For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack…. on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer. [Emphasis mine]
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There is no wrath so great as that of a writer spurned… or at least, badly reviewed. That’s the lesson to take from the current row between Philip Kerr and Allan Massie. After having two of his novels panned by Massie in past reviews, Kerr decided turnabout was fair play. So when his rival released a new book — a history of the Stuarts — he was ready with his own Amazon review.
While it appears to have been removed this morning, Harry Mount has a summary at the Telegraph.
Kerr calls the book “superficial”, says it uses “hopelessly outdated” sources, including “a slab of cheesy prose from a crappy old novel,” calls Massie’s books “mostly unread” and goes on to list a series of mistakes.
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So you think you’re having a tough week? At least you don’t live near this intersection in Guatemala City. On Sunday, Gaia’s maw opened up in the middle of a poor neighborhood (isn’t that always the way?), swallowing up a house and a three story building.
Michael Bay could plot out an entire movie based on that photo, and it would still be better than Transformers.
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