'They Will Die in Tallinn': Estonia Girds for War With Russia

[icymist]

Pretty much no one in the Western alliance is looking forward to the next few days.

NATO heads of state are due to meet Wednesday in Brussels beneath the disinterested gaze of President Donald Trump before he jets off to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. In between, British Prime Minister Theresa May—who faces a pending collision with the brick wall of Brexit—meets first with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then with Trump. It’s a rapid-fire series of what would usually be staid diplomatic photo-ops that could, in this iteration, seriously disrupt the international order that has made the United States a global superpower since the end of World War II.

While the president and other Republican envoys make reassuring entreaties to the Kremlin, Trump continues to view himself as the disruptor of NATO. In the weeks leading up to the NATO summit, the president again berated America’s allies for their defense spending. To push back, supporters of the trans-Atlantic framework that is the architecture of American power in the world are on an information blitz, heralding increased defense spending across the alliance.

All this has been accompanied by the usual cycle of pre-summit reports about NATO’s defensive vulnerabilities—including the choke point of the Suwalki Gap between Poland and Lithuania. And, as usual, it’s the allies to the north of that gap that are trying to stay focused on what matters most: the fundamental transformation of the alliance that is needed.

Almost 10 years after the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008, it’s clear NATO still needs to learn more quickly from our partners with a deeper history of fighting Russian aggression in all its various forms. Foremost of those partners is Estonia, which, unlike Georgia, is a full NATO member and has been since 2004.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/10/they-will-die-in-tallinn-estonia-girds-for-war-with-russia-218965

[pangaia]

1. I posted this and , to a great degree, got laughed at.

Last edited Fri Jul 13, 2018, 04:15 PM - Edit history (1)

I have feared russia would invade the Baltics, starting with Estonia, for .. jeeze.. well over a year.
This is part of the trump set up... the reason he is there in the first place...

jeeze people wake up !!



If I am wrong I will be the first to admit it.
Please prove me wrong---
But I don't think I am...

--neither do the several people I know, just as acquaintances, or have met, from Estonia and Latvia.. among them some world famous concert artists...

[icymist]

2. That's where I saw this before. I put this here so I can find it again.

Oh, this could be very real. have you studied the Suwalki Corridor? This could very well be the greatest test NATO ever faced. Just two highways and one train tracks there that, if taken, would cut the Baltics off of any land route. Yes. People need to wake up.
?w=960

Now David A Andelman, the author of A Shattered Peace: Versailles 1919 and the Price We Pay Today, a book on causes of modern conflicts, has issued a dire warning.

He told CNN: "If Vladimir Putin takes comfort in NATO's waffling, or doubts US willingness to spring to the defence of the Baltic republics, it's here any shootout between NATO and Russia could start. Or even World War III.

Describing Poland, Lithuania and Latvia as Putin's "next targets", he noted they are pro-American following the collapse of the communist Soviet Union.

"But while the clear advantages of the prosperity brought by a democratic capitalism that has taken strong roots in all three of the Baltics is a powerful attraction, there remains an overarching fear that two decades of such progress could be snuffed in an instant by six divisions of Russian armour."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2130852/suwalki-gap-tiny-corridor-of-nato-land-in-eastern-europe-is-where-world-war-three-will-erupt-unless-russian-aggression-is-curbed/

[Sneederbunk]

3. Estonia is not in the Balkins.

[pangaia]

4. You are right, right right, Thanks.

Being the brilliant world historian that I am....

But I do know the countries I am talking about.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine,..... then.?? Belarus? then.... the Balkans?

People are even leaving Romania! Anecdotal information to me.. 2 friends who moved to The Netherlands, and friends of theirs want to leave. .......

[icymist]

5. Estonia is just above Latvia on the map above.

People get the Baltics and Balkans mixed up. Similar names.

[pangaia]

10. Yeah, your are not the first to straighten me out---- LOL.

I guess I know WHERE Estonia is, just not WHAT it is.

Thanks..
I even just corrected it.

I can play Beethoven. Elgar and Strauss, however..which I am doing in about 3 hours.

[Lucky Luciano]

9. Maybe they snickered over Baltics vs Balkans confusion?

Just kidding!

[pangaia]

11. That's ok. I can take it...

Thanks

[hedda_foil]

6. Trump won't rule out ceasing military exercises if Putin asks

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/12/politics/trump-nato-military-exercises/index.html

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump capped off his dramatic appearance at the annual NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday by teasing another controversial possibility, saying he would not rule out ceasing NATO military exercises in the Baltic States if Russian leader Vladimir Putin requested it during their upcoming meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

Asked if he would cancel them, Trump said, "Perhaps we'll talk about that," referring to Putin, a response that has only fueled the the growing uncertainty over the state of the alliance.
Despite Trump's barrage of acidic rhetoric during the summit, diplomats said the President never explicitly threatened to leave NATO and it remains unclear whether he has the power to do so without Senate approval.
However, Trump's comments about possibly canceling NATO military exercises at Putin's request have amplified fears among European leaders that the President could undermine the alliance by making major unilateral concessions to the Russian President -- who he again referred to as a "competitor" rather than an adversary on Thursday.
One defense official told CNN Thursday that the Pentagon is not anticipating Trump suspending exercises in Eastern Europe.
In fact, joint exercises involving 17 nations

On

More including video at link.

[MBS]

7. So scary.

"beneath the disinterested gaze of President Donald Trump. . while the president and other Republican envoys make reassuring entreaties to the Kremlin. ." Just beyond irresponsible. If a tragedy of this magnitude comes to pass - if evil of this magnitude is allowed to happen - it's ALL on Trump, and everyone who has enabled or supported him. That is, if there's anyone left on the planet even to discuss it.

The only thing that this article misses here is that it's not just Putin's "growing and irrational insecurity" that's the problem. It's also Trump's insecurity, too. And combined. . well, that's what keeps me up at night, and what terrifies me about their upcoming tete a tete.

[malthaussen]

8. Excellent article.

But of course, nobody gives a crap about the Baltic States.

-- Mal