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The tiny Estonian town that could spell the end of NATO
The Week ^ | 3/27/2014 | By Michael Ben-Gad

Posted on 03/27/2014 3:54:03 PM PDT by 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...

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: estonia; moldova; nato; obama; putin; ukraine
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This is an interesting scenario and begs the question: Should the US go to war with Russia over a town in Estonia that is nearly all Russian?
1 posted on 03/27/2014 3:54:03 PM PDT by Mariner
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To: Mariner
Should the US go to war with Russia over a town in Estonia that is nearly all Russian?

Yup.

2 posted on 03/27/2014 3:57:01 PM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Play the 'Knockout Game' with someone owning a 9mm and you get what you deserve)
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To: Mariner

I wouldn’t get too carried away. NATO’s a way for Europe to leech off Uncle Sam’s defense dime. What’s the alternative? They’re gonna up their defense spending to match Russia’s build-up? In an alternate universe, maybe...


3 posted on 03/27/2014 3:57:30 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: VeniVidiVici

How many Americans would answer the question affirmatively?


4 posted on 03/27/2014 3:59:43 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: Mariner

What is going to be interesting is when Putin annexes part of Poland to protect ethnic Russians there.


5 posted on 03/27/2014 4:01:30 PM PDT by bigheadfred
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To: VeniVidiVici

“Should the US go to war with Russia over a town in Estonia that is nearly all Russian? “
_________________________________________________
NOPE.....I am sure you were being sarcastic.


6 posted on 03/27/2014 4:02:28 PM PDT by AlexW
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To: VeniVidiVici

Another big question is whether Putin thinks he can get away with it, for if he thinks he can he’ll do it for sure.


7 posted on 03/27/2014 4:02:37 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Mariner

With Obama at the helm, Putin could invade Alaska without consequence


8 posted on 03/27/2014 4:04:28 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: AlexW
".I am sure you were being sarcastic"

No, I was not.

It's a question the American people ought to be studying on right now. We may be faced with a choice to walk away from NATO or expel Russians from Estonia.

It COULD happen. Putin smells blood in the water and I can't see him not being anxious to take another bite.

9 posted on 03/27/2014 4:05:06 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Mariner
1994 Budapest Memorandum in which Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. guaranteed
Ukrainian sovereignty in exchange for its relinquishing the nuclear weapons

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

And Obama can rot in hell for the passive weakness he's shown.
Homosexual, Cocaine using, Drunk Bastard. A Pot head in the WH. how grand.

10 posted on 03/27/2014 4:09:08 PM PDT by MaxMax (Pay Attention and you'll be pissed off too! FIRE BOEHNER, NOW!)
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To: Mariner

Send them some muzzie “immigrants”.


11 posted on 03/27/2014 4:11:26 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: MaxMax

You and I are follow LHA sailors.


12 posted on 03/27/2014 4:11:43 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: MaxMax
It' high time the EU stands up off their lazy socialist butts to do something.

If only we had some real leaders...

Pope and Reagan photo pope-and-reagan-733624.jpg

13 posted on 03/27/2014 4:14:12 PM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is evil and must be eradicated)
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To: Viennacon

The Alaskans might disagree with you on that.


14 posted on 03/27/2014 4:14:13 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: Mariner

Yes.


15 posted on 03/27/2014 4:14:14 PM PDT by kabar
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To: MaxMax
It's high time the EU stands up off their lazy socialist butts to do something.

I thought the EU bent over to get things done.

16 posted on 03/27/2014 4:15:23 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
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To: Mariner
We may be faced with a choice to walk away from NATO or expel Russians from Estonia.

There's really no need for US ground forces to get involved. We'd shoot down anything the Russians sent up, and recreate the highway of death for Russian ground forces in Estonia, with the help of Baltic ground forces. In a way, it would be similar to the Korean and Vietnam Wars, where Russian pilots went up against US pilots over the skies of Korea and Vietnam. Nobody's going to use nukes. We wouldn't and the Russians certainly wouldn't, not over a failed invasion of Estonia, any more than Stalin used nukes while we were fighting in Korea.

17 posted on 03/27/2014 4:15:49 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: MaxMax
It' high time the EU stands up off their lazy socialist butts to do something. It's their turn to step up to the plate.

I hope you're not holding your breath.

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 for our natural gas & oil. Screw 'em, or at the very least, charge 'em out the wazzoo.

18 posted on 03/27/2014 4:18:15 PM PDT by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1!)
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To: Zhang Fei
"There's really no need for US ground forces to get involved"

And just what EU nation will commit troops and equipment for this endeavor without a couple of US Armored Brigades alongside?

I suggest none would.

19 posted on 03/27/2014 4:19:26 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: DuncanWaring

Didn’t 20000 of them just vote to secede on a petition?


20 posted on 03/27/2014 4:20:20 PM PDT by Viennacon
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