The tiny Estonian town that could spell the end of NATO

The Week ^ | 3/27/2014 | By Michael Ben-Gad

[Mariner]

Will Putin call NATO's bluff?

The Russian invasion and rapid absorption of the Crimean peninsula might seem like the spark ready to ignite a new Cold War. In fact, given the feeble Western response so far, the more likely outcome is not the division of Europe once more between NATO's Western alliance and a neo-Soviet Russia, but rather the fracturing and ultimate demise of NATO and the Western alliance itself.

Of course, no one expects the West to use military force to protect Ukrainian territory, despite the 1994 Budapest Memorandum in which Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. guaranteed Ukrainian sovereignty in exchange for its relinquishing the nuclear weapons that remained on its territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yet even the Russians now seem surprised, indeed somewhat amused, by how disunited and weak the Western response has been. So what comes next?

Having demonstrated to the Ukrainians with his Crimean excursion the emptiness of Western guarantees...

[Paul R.]

Correction: “occupying force”, not “invading force”.

[bigheadfred]

virtually and almost are the first things Putin cares about

[Paul R.]

That’s a bright idea.

It mostly kept the peace for 65 years, in a region not exactly noted for such.

[noinfringers2]

Any political agreement between government entities, be they local, national or multinational, must be couched in wording or affect so that no one party or group of the parties to the agreement can take away the authority of a dissenting parties obligation to that parties citizens. To hold otherwise is loss of the parties obligations to it’s citizens.

[Natufian]

Even with the recent increases in Russian military spending, the EU still outspends them about 2-1. For the previous decade, It hunk they outspent them about 3 or 4 -1.

[denydenydeny]

A lot of people would say this is exactly why NATO should not have been expanded eastward. We find ourselves on the hook defending tiny countries no one cares about. The original NATO made sense. The new one doesn’t.

Like we would somehow find the will to defend Germany but not Poland? Not with this crowd.

[PIF]

I do hope everybody here who advocates going to war with Russia over some town in Estonia realizes that the announced Russian war doctrine states: that if attacked by conventional weapons, Russia will respond with nuclear weapons.

Since the One is canceling the so called missile shield - for what it would be worth against Russian ICBMs, American cities would be among the first to discover Russian war doctrine.

Maybe that is the One's end game?

[Grzegorz 246]

“Should the US go to war with Russia over a town in Estonia that is nearly all Russian?”

Look gays, If you don’t want to do that, leave NATO immediately. Leave it now or your butt buddy approach will trigger off WW3.

[GOPJ]

For the first time in a long time, they're realizing what it actually means when they get their wish for a Euroweenie-type U.S. president. Now they're whining...

Good point.

[Atlas Sneezed]

The problem is, does Estonia have enough men in arms to do any good?

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They need to immediately adopt a Swiss-style militia, where every man (and any women who want to volunteer) are trained with and provided with a modern military rifle and an adequate supply of ammo to keep under the bed.

[Yorlik803]

The trouble with alliances. isn’t this how World War one started?

[rbmillerjr]

“NOPE.....I am sure you were being sarcastic”

The US will go to war over a NATO member. Period.

Putin is an idiot but he is not idiot enough to push that limit and expose his inferior military and especially his inferior weapons.

That would put a crimp in something dear to Russia’s heart, their arms exports.

[rbmillerjr]

“I bet “peace thru strength” will not be the answer by more than a few here. And that peace thru retreat and appeasement will be the answer....Besides Estonia is way over there, they will say. “

LOL 3 of the isolationist appeasement at any costers got in before you even posted lol. They live in a fantasy land. If NATO is violated, NATO and the US will respond in devastating fashion.

[rbmillerjr]

“Eliminate NATO and also the European Union!
They are both nothing but roads to a ome world socialist government!”

It’s a shame that you Alex Jones idiots get to live here. Seriously, I wish I could replace all of you with a Pole or Estonian who appreciates living under the yoke of the Soviets/Russians.

[cherokee1]

Poland———or Buffalo?

[Mariner]

"Look gays, If you don’t want to do that, leave NATO immediately. Leave it now or your butt buddy approach will trigger off WW3."

I'm assuming you're talking to an amorphous group of homos now serving in the military and not folks on FR.

[Pan_Yan]

It' high time the EU stands up off their lazy socialist butts to do something.

You might as well go to a crack house and ask the occupants to form a neighborhood watch.

[MSF BU]

Poland is mostly Polish, there are not many other ethnic groups there. This does beg a larger question though, any bordering nation that is watching this and not rethinking their defense/reserve strategy are idiots. I’ve always thought that Swiss have a terrific solution to this; prepare defenses throughout the country and assure the populace is trained. Based on the Swiss Model, the Poles could easily mobilize a five or six million man army.

[dfwgator]

Poland is mobilizing, they’ve also decided to ramp up fracking to try to reduce dependence on Russian Natural Gas.

One of the ramifications of the recent events in Ukraine, is that Poland is going to emerge as a big player in Europe, perhaps even forming a new alliance with the other Central European and Baltic Countries.

[MSF BU]

Thanks for the reality check. Too many halfwits don’t understand the importance of the actual soldiers doing the fighting. We’ve conquered a few third world pig pens since Vietnam. In a ground war the Russian forces would not be cowards as in Irag. Plus I’m sure the incentive of capturing our female soldiers might “stiffen” their resolve. Does anybody remember what happened to the German girls they captured?