Posted on 04/04/2023 3:53:05 AM PDT by Timber Rattler
The Nordic country will become NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday, expanding the alliance in a strategic setback for President Vladimir Putin of Russia.
(snip)
Finland’s flag is being raised on Tuesday afternoon at NATO headquarters, a deeply symbolic moment marking the Nordic nation’s official welcome into the alliance and the shifting power calculations as the West strengthens its allegiances in response to the war in Ukraine.
The president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, is expected to attend the ceremony, on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 74th anniversary, in what amounts to a strategic defeat for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who has made blocking NATO expansion a goal of his leadership.
With Finland’s membership unlocked by Turkey’s vote last week to ratify its entry, NATO’s border with Russia is doubling and the alliance has gained access to a strong military with a deep history of countering its bigger neighbor.
The ceremony comes as foreign ministers from the alliance gather in Brussels for a two-day meeting. Finland’s foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, will attend the meeting — Finland’s first as a full-fledged member — although many details about how his country, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, will integrate into the alliance are yet to be determined.
A new Finnish government, still to be negotiated following an election on Sunday, will have to decide whether Finland will accept foreign troops on its soil, for example, or even nuclear weapons belonging to allies.
Mr. Niinisto judged quickly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Finland’s best protection was to drop its military nonalignment and apply to join NATO. His judgment was influential for a more hesitant Sweden, which has also applied to join.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
You claimed “Here’s an example of air defense upgrades”.
I proved you wrong.
You claimed the US subsidized Finland’s F-35’s.
Again, I proved you wrong.
Now you move on to something else. It’s like debating a 4 year old.
And more to the point, every political party in Finland supported this.
Living next to Russia under Putin makes you paranoid.
You’re incoherent. I said the Finnish border is RELATIVELY unarmed. Compared to what it’ll be in 3 years, I am absolutely right. You’re trying to peddle the absurdity that only Finnish bought and paid for weaponry will be in Finland. There will hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American, German, British, Italian, etc. weaponry there, just like in every other NATO country. You proved nothing but your complete lack of understanding what NATO is and how it operates.
You might want to check Finnish sources in an to attempt to remove that foot from your mouth.
Kindly share your reasons for your reply. I truly would like to know.
Take a look at the new equipment the Finns are buying. If NATO is not going deploy additional massive amounts of armaments and defensive fortifications in Finland, I’d really like to know why they are joining NATO. Again, if there will be nothing added to their frontier are they just trying to incite the Russian in order to prove their current positions are impenetrable for the Russian armor? I applaud your efforts to place both of those feet in simultaneously.
I am not talking about equipment. I am talking about the terrain. Most of the border lands are horrible for operations by mobile forces. Except for the area near the Gulf of Finland there are few roads, dense forests, thousands of lakes, bogs, swamps, and boulders. Then in the far north there is barren perma-frosted tundra.
You didn’t give your reasons why you think I’m wrong.
You are fighting last century’s war. Ever hear of missiles, helicopters, air assault, fighters and bombers? You are also completely wrong to think modern armor can’t negotiate most of the Finnish border. According to you there is no reason for Finland to be in NATO. They can’t be attacked! When the Finnish theater became a minor sideshow for Russia in 1944, the Finns capitulated. That was when they had the aid of their current NATO partner, Germany, sustaining them. I’m done wasting my time on your silliness.
Like you say, it was a popular move in Finland. Anyone know the vote figures in Sweden? Pundits are suggesting Putin may have to station 100,000 Russian troops at that border. One thing Finland has in common with Ukraine, they both know the heavy price paid during Russian occupation.
It will be interesting to see how the May election in Turkey will affect the Swedish request to join.
Poland is also ordering a large amount of arms from the US. We are probably getting orders from other NATO members as well. Making America great again in the manufacturing area.
Russia has been tryjng to sell their arms at various international trade shows. I wonder how their results compare with US sales?
Putin may have to station 100,000 Russian troops at that border.
—
Putin does not have 100k NatGuard troops to spare for border duty. Or any other number - everything is tied up in Ukraine.
I put the over under for General Dynamics tanks in the next five years at 3000 back in March ‘22. The MIC oligarchs in DC will be cleaning up in this totally unnecessary, new multi trillion dollar, generational Cold War II arms race. You are right. After running the same totally unnecessary neocon game for twenty years in the Middle East to make the world safe for Raytheon, here we go again. Now the MIC will make billions while western woke green pervo globalism marches on. Unfortunately, we aren’t dealing with outgunned Arab irregulars this time. We paid trillions, killed 15,000 American boys and a million mostly innocent locals in the ME for your perverse idea of “making America great again”. I’m going to guess you haven’t called your congress critter demanding taxes be raised to pay for all of this. No, just charge all of this totally unnecessary madness to our kids tab.
Prior to the invasion, I doubt if you could generate more than 25-percent of Swedes in favor of being in NATO. Poll done in Sweden for mid-April 2022....51-percent were in favor. Poll in mid-May....near 60-percent. Sep of 2022, it was nearing two out of three Swedes.
On positioning of Russian troops along the Finn border...lot of talk. No evidence of this occurring, and one might suggest that it’s more of an effort to keep Russians from escaping across the border.
Some Russians have observed that any of these 1980s border ‘posts’ that were maintained for the cold-war....are locked down/shut down and in fairly poor shape. This isn’t an area that you’d want to venture into....lot of woods...landscape resembling woods of Wisconsin.
I would not anticipate Erdogan losing this Turkish race, and the Swedish position will continue to stall.
On invasion potential into Finland, with the armor-count diminished for the Russians and poor training...I don’t think this is much to worry about or calculate upon. Between the landscape and weather...the Finns hold a distinctive advantage.
Why would I complain to Congress if other countries are ordering our tanks and other militay assets. True, just like Phizer and others, the MIC folks will be getting rich. On the other hand they are employing lots of people who will be earning wages, paying for their living, and also paying taxes. Hopefully, the MIC people will also be paying taxes on their earnings. I have no intention of complaining to Congress. I just wish Putin would pack up and go home. Spend his money building Russia, not on destroying Ukraine.
According to you there is no reason for Finland to be in NATO. They can’t be attacked!
Obviously, reading comprehension is not your strong suit. I said most of the border does not need to be fortified and I said nothing like Finland can’t be attacked.
And who pays the trillions to defend the new frontier? That’s right, the American taxpayer (globalist stooges like you and your victims, me and our grandchildren). Unbelievable! The globalists and the their hinterland stooges celebrate their Cold War II which doubles the size, risks and expense of Cold War I. Your woke green pervo globalist handlers couldn’t be more proud of you.
China can get the oil from central Asia or buy it from the middle east.
Or just wait until Russia collapses and then grab it
“Care to speculate on how much of the cost of those will be born by the American taxpayer?”
Zero.
The Finns are paying for the F 35s.
That also supports American jobs
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