Forgive them for thinking they HAD ALREADY joined
an anti-Russian alliance upon entering NATO...
an anti-Russian alliance upon entering NATO...
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| US WWII poster celebrating Polish bravery |
While Poland may be a formal and full member of both NATO and the European Union, they have all but given up on any timely, effective support from these 'allies' in the wake of shocking weakness displayed by the West throughout the recent Crimean land-grab.
With Obama a disinterested putz and the EU heavily dependent on Russian gas/oil, the Poles have clearly been unsettled by events in Ukraine, and can see that they might be on their own should Putin decide to turn their way.
They have good reason to be alarmed: the Russians have taken the country from them more than once in the past, and Poland is basically flat as a board with NO natural borders along lengthy frontiers with Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus... all countries currently vulnerable to Russian attack. Oh yeah, and the enclave of Kaliningrad -the former East Prussia- sits right on her border too, bristling with Russian military equipment.
They have good reason to be alarmed: the Russians have taken the country from them more than once in the past, and Poland is basically flat as a board with NO natural borders along lengthy frontiers with Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus... all countries currently vulnerable to Russian attack. Oh yeah, and the enclave of Kaliningrad -the former East Prussia- sits right on her border too, bristling with Russian military equipment.
As noted in The Week, at least 7,000 Polish workers in
Europe have received reservist call-up papers in the last few
weeks. Authorities in Warsaw dismiss this as 'routine', but the Polish reserves questioned in London say that this has not occured previously. The Polish Army is planning training and drills with reservists 'for 10-30 days'-in order to have them battle-ready.
Although the Poles have been among the most loyal US allies over the last 25 years -and unlike most Europeans, not afraid of a little live combat- now that they actually need some help from NATO, their confidence in the West is is plainly insufficient for them to sleep at night... the Russians move quick, while Obama and the EU's policy might be dubbed the Molasses Doctrine.
Yes, the US has sent six additional fighter jets to Lithuania, twelve more to Poland itself, and is planning a 'major' military excercise in the coming month- but even Joe Biden's pledge of providing Poland elements of the missile shield (by 2018) that Obama took away from them (as a gift to Moscow) cannot ease jittery Polish nerves in the shadow of 30,000 Kremlin troops on the Ukrainian border NOW... coupled with ongoing Russian nuclear intimidation.
BTW, the missile defense Obama took from the Czechs and Poles as part of his idiotic 'reset button' initiative would have been operational this year.
Therefore, Poland is currently assembling a joint military brigade along with Lithuania and Kiev, with plans to deploy in western Ukraine soon. Expect a serious Polish military build-up now as Warsaw stands-up to become the hub of a new anti-Russian military alliance in former Soviet captive states in Europe, along with Lithuania, Hungary, what's left of Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, and even Romania-
Fiscal Times:
BTW, the missile defense Obama took from the Czechs and Poles as part of his idiotic 'reset button' initiative would have been operational this year.
Therefore, Poland is currently assembling a joint military brigade along with Lithuania and Kiev, with plans to deploy in western Ukraine soon. Expect a serious Polish military build-up now as Warsaw stands-up to become the hub of a new anti-Russian military alliance in former Soviet captive states in Europe, along with Lithuania, Hungary, what's left of Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, and even Romania-
Fiscal Times:
Because of Russia’s aggression, Poland now has the chance to expand its military power without alarming or incurring pushback from nearby states. It can act more according to its own interests, less muted by the EU, NATO, or the UN, and assume a more regionally assertive role with fewer costs. Russia has given Poland carte blanche to become a regional power, and potentially the linchpin of an eastern coalition against Russia.Maybe the EU doesn't have time for rising economic star Poland... they're too busy conniving with the press and various leftists in Holland/UK to take-out europskeptics Nigel Farage and Geert Wilders at the knees. As I recall, most Europeans in Afghanistan served lunches and handed out charity packages, save the Dutch and Polish... I don't think EU soldiers could do much on the battlefield, frankly.
That would be an historic shift; Europe has not seen a major eastern European power since the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth almost five hundred years ago. And nobody would deserve it more than Putin...
And of course Obumbles is tied-up with his basketball and what not. As a half-Pole myself, I am ashamed and disguisted by our country's abandonment of formal allies, all principle, and any written agreement that doesn't serve the short-term purposes of the odius Obama regime- like the one where we 'guaranteed' Ukraine's borders...