Posted on 04/01/2014 7:53:20 PM PDT by No One Special
Poland asked Nato to station 10,000 troops on its territory on Tuesday as a visible demonstration of the Alliance's resolve to defend all its members after Russia's seizure of Crimea.
Nato foreign ministers met in Brussels to consider requests for soldiers to be deployed in Poland and the Baltic States, all of which share borders with Russia.
Nato generals and admirals have been ordered to devise ways to better protect alliance members that feel threatened by Russia, and "all practical civilian and military cooperation" with Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has massed about 40,000 troops near Ukraine's eastern frontier, giving himself the option of seizing more of his neighbour's territory.
On Monday, he assured Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, that some of these forces would be withdrawn. But the ministers disclosed that Russia had yet to keep this promise.
"We've had some statements from Russia about pulling back forces from the eastern border, but we haven't seen the evidence yet," said William Hague, the Foreign Secretary.
Meanwhile, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Nato secretary general, said he could not "confirm that Russia is withdrawing its troops" and warned of the dangers posed by a "massive military build-up".
Against this background, Radek Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, asked for "two heavy brigades" of armoured infantry, with about 5,000 troops each, to be stationed in his country. Poland has a 144-mile border with Russia's Kaliningrad enclave.
"It is very important that all members should enjoy the same level of security," said Mr Sikorski. "Poland has been a member of Nato for 15 years now – and so far the only permanent military institution that we have is a conference centre, training facility. We would welcome a prominent, major presence."
Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, has expressed frustration over Nato's reluctance to deploy troops...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
10,000 troops against the Russian juggernaut of over 1.5 million troops?
1.5 million , but don’t forget they’re Russian
?
Quest. How many Poles does it take to stand up to 1.6 million Russian troops?
Ans. ONE
Russia has some legitimate security concerns, given that they were attacked by Germany and lost tens of millions of people, and yes they still remember that. Given that history, it is stupid to put missles next to them, or airbases, or other threats. They simply feel they have to respond.
But if every head of household in the border countries had a rifle, Russia would stay on its side, and the border countries would stay on theirs. And their isn't much Russia could do about private citizens buying guns in another country.
That’s 10,000 more than they have now. The Russians have given them an excuse to station forward positions in Poland.
Meanwhile, a few thousand troops would be very useful.
Ukraine ultra nationalists vs a Russian ultranationalist Putin. What could possibly go wrong. Any hope for freedom in the Ukraine is quickly slipping away.
If no one apposes them, they are a juggernaught.
Who will appose them? Not our spineless leader. Not the spineless Europeans ... who?
Heads of households fighting for their own families and property would have that motivation.
Against a well trained, well armed army ... I doubt they would make a difference.
Poland’s armed forces are well-trained, they have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Plus, they’ll have “Home Field advantage.”
One can but hope.
That, plus institute the Swiss model of military service and schutzenfests.
I suspect you'll be attacked by a few of the emotional, unthinking folks on FR.
Russia has nukes, an aircraft carrier, airplanes, etc. How much of the big stuff would they use against their neighbors? So far it has been a propaganda war, with very few shots fired, and some fistfights. Russia does not want to lose the propaganda war. They won't carpet bomb Poland. Every neighbor has seen the playbook now. Any further actions will be played out on the internet, with full propaganda, not Stalin sending waves of tanks. This is how heads of households, fighting for their own homes and neighbors, against Russian agents, would succeed. Russians out of uniform would not have an easy time like they just did in Crimea.
.......”We’ve had some statements from Russia about pulling back forces from the eastern border, but we haven’t seen the evidence yet,” said William Hague, the Foreign Secretary.”.....
Well how do you pull back troops that aren’t there in the first place.
Jim Maceda Journalist traveled over 1000 miles of the Border between Russia and Ukraine....and documented it. Here are some of his tweets:
Mar 31
...”no need to stage troops - mil bases are 30-40 mi from the border”.... I reported on what I and many others saw and didn’t see along border areas.... From practically on the border to 10 or more miles away, much of our journey paralleled the border just inside Russia.....We stopped at border checkpoints in areas like Kursk and Belgorod, expecting tension so near to E Ukraine, but all was quiet and normal......Putin can just move some APC’s around to ‘create’ a ‘build-up’
“Kremlin says it moved troops around for war games ending 03/31. We only saw troops on bases....... the media is largely responsible for hyping this..... At any given time 50,000 troops in West and South districts protect the borders. No need to ‘amass’......moving troops between various SW Russia bases is not a ‘build-up’
“All of this international hype is completely unfounded,”
We saw no build-up over a 1000mi border. We did see military bases with troops & materiel inside them. Is that build-up?”
And here’s his article printed for NBC news:
Yet Russia now owns Crimea with nothing but their presents.
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