Posted on 03/15/2017 9:12:56 AM PDT by Winniesboy
If there is one place in Europe that could be most justifiably troubled by Donald Trump’s mysterious relationship with Moscow, it is the windswept coastal town of Bodø lying just inside the Arctic Circle in Norway.
A few minutes’ drive north of Bodø, remote and deep in a vast cave chiselled out of a mountain of quartz and slate, lies Norway’s joint military headquarters, sometimes described as Nato’s northern gate.
The headquarters, halfway between Oslo and Kirkenes, the town closest to Norway’s 122-mile (196km) land border with Russia, is the nerve centre of the country’s efforts to protect itself from an increasingly unpredictable and aggressive neighbour.... The NJHQ commander, Lt Gen Rune Jakobsen, explains that the underground fortress, built by a base run by the Nazi occupiers during the second world war, was envisioned as a place where Norwegian military might survive a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. “For a while back these headquarters seemed a bit out of date. Now it does not seem such a bad idea again.”...
...But the appearance of calm does not mask the fact that the Russian posture in the high north has changed. Moscow has developed a fleet of increasingly sophisticated submarines and aircraft, which are being tested in the north Atlantic alongside new high-precision long-range missiles. The fear is that Nato could lose the ability to deny Russia naval access to the north Atlantic, and Russia could block or disrupt US reinforcement to Europe.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
“If there is one place in Europe that could be most justifiably troubled by Donald Trump’s mysterious relationship with Moscow, it is the windswept coastal town of Bodø lying just inside the Arctic Circle in Norway.”
Now there is a bullshit lead if ever I’ve seen one.
More pap from the Grauniad...
The rather unfortunate opening sentence is, however, unrepresentative of the rest of the article, which is an interesting and informative read about Norway’s heightened defence posture.
Russia is on the verge of invading Norway. Got it. Everyone really misses the cold war apparently.
Russia building up it’s naval fleet in Murmansk is a concern. One we should not take lightly. Hey, if our NATO partners decide to up the spending and investment in their NATO commitments because they think Trump may be cozy with Putin that’s fine by me. I think Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Georgia over the past 10 years has more to do with it. Deterrence is the best counterweight to what Russia is doing. If we truly do want to prevent war, then we along with our NATO partners need to beef up our presence in all of these areas. Show Russia that we mean business. Then there will be no war. It worked for 45 years during the cold war.
Me too. Is Trump is several moves ahead of NATO in the great chess game? Threaten to and actually cut their funds just as Russia flexes muscle, they suddenly find $$ to defend themselves.
Back when the US Navy was in the ASW business — 500 P-3s and S-3s stationed all over the world and flying daily missions on top of Russian subs — we were in control. Now, with all carrier-based S-3 squadrons decommissioned and a total of maybe 140 P-3s and P-8s stationed in just NAS JAX and NAS WHIDBEY — the Russians are pretty much free to do what they want. Freedom ain’t free, my friend.
ISIS using WMD is a concern, Lil Dong in North Korea is a concern...not this pap.
Patrick Wintour, brother of Hillary supporter and Editor of Vogue Magazine, Anna Wintour, takes another Jab at the President from his perch at the Grauniad.
Good old 'national interests'...with a side order of pyscho-babble about Putin's 'intentions' and the 'threat' to our 'partners' in Europe.
A veritable pants load of global interventionist crap...is that you Lindsey?
Make fun of it. The 1930’s are calling, they want their foreign policy back.
Where in any of my statements can you construe being an interventionist? My post is about re-building our military and encouraging our NATO partners to build their military back up. I would further encourage more combined arms exercises with our NATO partners like we used to do. By standing strong together we can discourage any interventionist intentions by Putin and let him know in no uncertain terms that we will work with him where we have mutual interests but we will stand up to him when he tries to threaten or intimidate us or our allies.
Not like Sweden has. This is Norway’s real problem:
https://www.thelocal.no/20160223/norwegian-birth-rate-at-historic-low
They don’t have sex I guess. :0)
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