Thank heavens that NATO war games on the Russian border don't cause any alarm.
1
I encourage the sensible people taking their valuable time in life trying to argue with pro Russian, anti US comments here who make up an alternate reality that ignores Russian aggression and invasion of recent years to please let those people be and sit back and relax because rather than engage in still more Internet bickering in an age of endless online ping pong, all a person needs to do about this situation is close their eyes, take a deep breath, and quietly say five simple words--NATO Alliance Treaty Article Five. It provides calm clarity. The West was brilliant to bring the former Warsaw Pact nations in to the EU and NATO as quickly as possible to place them under the protective shield of the United States like what could not be done after World War II. It was done in the eventuality of a dangerous Russian leader like Putin. Now that he is around with his plans for a "Greater Russia", that foresight is proving valuable. The US just completed massive NATO exercises to defend the alliance from Russia. NATO is ready. Any attack on one will be an attack on all and it will mean full infantry and artillery war between Russia and the United States with NATO having the advantage. Putin can ponder that in his own dark nights. Our nights can be filled with easy rest by closing our eyes, taking a deep breath, and quietly saying, "NATO Alliance Treaty Article 5". The rest is academic. Russia can play all the invasion war games they want. Article 5 shields their targets.
2
Seriously? What is with this anti Russian nonsense from this paper day in and day out? Their military spending is a tenth of ours. Their intelligence spending a fraction of ours as well (I'm assuming since no one seems to know or care.). Should we be afraid- very afraid? Because if Russia is a threat I'd like to know what we have been paying for in way of defense spending for decades? Scare and fear mongering makarky,
8
Yes, seriously. Georgia, Moldova, and especially Ukraine have had portions of their territory sliced off by Russian forces within the past five years, usually after an "exercise". Nato needs to keep a very wary eye on what eventuates from the current one.
4
Can any person, regardless of nationality, not see the US as an aggressor nation in regards to Russia? What would even the most pro West Russian government think of the American pustule on their borders? This is not America defending itself or freedom as there is none in the CIA/NSA run full surveillance state with a fake joke President. America is run by God only knows and the rest of the world is rightly frightened and we Americans are playing dumb and blind.
7
I can't. Just take a look at the recent history of the region and Russian aggression and expansion from the czarist times through Soviet Union and WWII. Russia has always expanded and did anything it could to expend its sphere of influence beyond its borders and annex territories west and south.
Look at the Baltic countries and Poland; they all are stepping up their investment in the military and preparing civil defense forces in case of Soviet/Russian invasion.
They all fear the arrival of the 'Martians' as in 1980 in Poland -green on the outside and red underneath.
6
Russia had to expand because of such friendly neighbour as Poland that didn't miss any opportunity to attack anybody in its sight.
3
When did the US undertake ANY aggressive action toward Russia such as, I don't know, interfering in its elections? America's democracy is imperfect and it is being threatened by the current president who Russia played no small role in putting in power. Nevertheless the US is a democracy, not a brutal oligarchic dictatorship like Russia.
1
Perhaps a counter exercise designed to thwart there exercise would be a good response, with the required actions for notification of course.
This is obviously in response to NATO's escalating war games all around the Russian borders. But you won't read about those in the Western corporate media. I suppose Russia has absolutely no reason to be alarmed about those.
9
You lie. All the Nato exercises, on a much smaller scale than the Russian ones, have been thoroughly notified and reported in the Western media.
1
It is the zenith of hypocrisy to complain about the evil effect of these Russian training exercises. Don't we pull the same stupid stunt on the border of North Korea all the time? Didn't NATO (which means the United States) just do the same thing in Poland?
No matter who does it, it is war-mongering, plain and simple. This practice should be outlawed by international convention.
If you want to do training, the target "enemy" should have to be located in the center of your own country, not on it's borders.
This type of "exercise" makes everyone in the world less safe - lets insist that it be universally outlawed.
11
Sure you globalist think that outlawing things actually works, sort of how gun control mostly controls law abiding citizens not criminals. Just more living in a fantasy world.
2
Vulcanalex,
Nuclear war is not a bar fight - it's a fight where there are no winners.
"No matter who does it, it is war-mongering, plain and simple. This practice should be outlawed by international convention." - That would be a phantasy; see how well adherence to the international courts and standards by Russia is working now. The only thing that Russia understands is strength.
1
Who could possible be surprised by this? The Balkan states have been in the cross-sights of Vladmir Putin since the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. in 1991.
And if these are 'War Games' -- they're ones with very real meaning.
Stealth and secrecy are the key players here.
The Cold War has never ended.
2
Rabble rousing prelude to another invasion of...? Ukraine? Moldova?
Interesting, how did the Baltic States recognise themselves in this fake country? Must be by the wish to military attack Russia and Belorussia. I am not exactly understand the Western worries. After all the exercise is taking place on Russian and Belorussian souls with clearly no objections from these countries. Or the West thinks now every country should ask Western permission on any action in their own country?
7
That's exactly what the West thinks. Any sign of defense is seen as offense by the West and particularly Americans. When exactly should Muslims, for example, see their lands as being invaded and be justified to defend themselves from the West. The answer is never to Western Minds.
3
Perhaps the Baltic countries have learned a little bit from their not so distant history; they have been attacked invaded and colonized by the 'peaceful' Russians and able to free themselves only twenty some years ago. Russia is in violation of the treaty which it sign and is conducting a massive military exercise around those countries. Why be fearful indeed!
And Belarus is still technically occupied by the Russians, who. never left.
2
Considering the history, Russia has the right not to trust the West at all. It was a subject of Western hostilities all the time. And so far I haven't heard about violation of any international treaty by this war game.
2
One thing's for sure. Whatever aggressive gestures Russia takes, Donald Trump and his Svengali Steve Bannon will insist, "Nothing to see here." You know, we don't want to make any more enemies, do we?
I'm surprised the word "appeasement" doesn't come up more often in describing the Trump administration's stance towards Russia. Then again, "appeasement" doesn't quite do justice to "this Trump-Russia thing." There's something more sinister going on there.
I was watching Bannon's incoherent, self-contradictory ramblings on "60 Minutes" last Sunday--like how making friends with Russia meant we could somehow take the savings in defense spending and plow it back into investment in the heartland when the only interest is in ramping up defense spending even further--and the only way it made any sense was if Bannon was some sort of Russian agent.
1
This is rich. When it mattered during the Cold War the Democrats were either harbiring spies for the Soviet Union or cultivating them. Russia is not Communist. It is not our enemy unlesss their recent socially conservative attempts to reconstruct their society after 70 years of Western inspired Marxist ruin makes them so in the eyes of the liberal Americans who loved Stalin.
Can humans ever learn from the past, or is war just an integral part of the human condition?
It also seems that at any given time, about 80% of the population just wants to live their lives in peace while being uninvolved, while about 1% is greedy, poweer hungry, and pathologically aggressive.
There never seems to be much of a counterbalance and so our future seems, unfortunately, all too predictable.
3
Sure they somewhat learn from the past, learning that you don't tolerate for very long countries threatening yours is a lesson from long ago. Fighting to win is another lesson that we only partially learned.
1
You have a way to negative view. The last century was a horror show - especially the first half. Since then humanity in total has matured. The last drag out awful war with pointless deaths was the Iran/Iraq war of the 80's. Since then we have had a series of follies and bluster half wars that are more media than reality. Things are actually looking up for humankind. Yes- the US media is trying to stoke antognisms that don't exist. It won't work. This world is now so glued together via communications and finance that the day of the warmonger is dead. Large standing militaries are going the way of the Dodo bird. No one has told them yet at the Pentagon.
One paragraph about US War games (quickly explained away) ? No paragraphs about US bases surrounding /on Russian borders, no paragraphs on US meddling in Russian internal affairs? I'm not surprised, the US is an imperial power, this is how imperial powers talk to themselves, justify the unjustifiable.
8
Do we think that NATO and US troops in the Baltics does not make Russia nervous. Forget the lies we tell that our exercises are only for defense. We are lying - they are offensive in nature as is our permanently stationing NATO troops in the Baltics.
The US tells so many lies about what we are doing in the Baltics, Poland and Ukraine that I don't wonder Russia is nervous. Frankly our exercises make me nervous as I do not trust anything my country says about what it is doing with our military.
Rand Paul is 100% correct in his efforts to force through another AUMF.
8
Indeed! Pretending that the US global military posture is anything but offensive and has absolutely nothing to do with defense of any kind is ludicrous. This country can't be invaded. Our military spending is beyond bloated - it's obscene and unjustifiable. Our intelligence budget is "classified" - ungovernd, unchecked, and out of control to the point that one could be forgiven to think they are manufacturing threats to justify their jobs.
5
Pay close attention to what the Russians do and not what they say. Putin is a master of "маскировка" (Maskirovka), the art of military deception and denial. He used it to great effect in his buildup of forces prior to invading Crimea and Eastern Ukraine and is likely to use the same tactics here.
15
In what? Does anyone think an actual war is likely with Russia on a WWII scale? That's nuts. Not gonna happen. The financial world has things in hand and the political monkeys and personalities are for show. It's a one world.
2
Many foreign infidels have tried, but none have succeeded in conquering Veishnoriya. The infidel Vlad and his slackers will do no better. Long live Veishnoriya! Glory to the Veishnoriyan people! Death to the invaders !
14
Got to Disagree here. It is Veishnoriya that attacked Russia and Belarus. So Veishnoriya is the invader.
I wonder if Russian people would emigrate there to get out from under Putin.
What happens when more countries are led by muscle flexing, bomb threatening, testosterone driven, nuclear capable leaders who haven't advanced psychologically since our club bearing ancestors?
The end of humanity.
2
Or the end of them??? Humanity has survived a lot of things, this is just one more. And I thought climate change was going to eliminate the human race anyway.
I am not worried. Trump knows how to handle the situation. He will build a wall to stop Putin in his tracks.
2
And Putin will pay for the wall
2
Putin is unlikely to take over Belarus. Lukashenko is already a perfect tool for Russia to use to maintain iron-fisted order over the people of Belarus. They would gain nothing by removing him and create a massive headache for themselves.
If the Russians do leave troops behind it will probably be to aid Lukashenko against any kind of popular uprising that might threaten his dictatorship.
The west was willing to in intercede on behalf of the Ukrainians, even to a limited extent, simply because the conflict did not involve engaging uniformed Russian troops. Putin thinks (correctly most likely) that the calculus would be different if there was the obvious risk of a hot war if we came to the aid of the people of Belarus in a similar way as we did with Ukraine.
Of course, this could all be cover for an invasion of the Baltic States, and NATO should obviously be prepared for that scenario, but I doubt Putin is quite that foolish.
4
Seriously, I doubt Russia has the inclination or the resources to take over the Baltic States. Could it have been the U.S. role in the Ukrainian coup that started all this? Didn't we invest $5 billion in Ukraine to bring them "democracy"?
4
Although it is a false cognate, the name Belarus, which means White Russia, is a war game in more than one way. A stand-in for BelaUSA: the distatoship is right here, in the White Whitehouse. By stirring up all a plethora of fears, fears of Black people, Brown people, oriental people, of countries without walls, countries without enough atombombs, countries not ruled by the Country-Club Set, we are creating our own dictatorship (a Trumpship) right here.
1
Why is it that so little coverage has been given to the war games, in which the US is participating, that have been ongoing in Eastern Europe and the Baltic Republics, all on Russia's doorstep, since since spring? They are still ongoing in Sweden. These games have been planned for years, and NATO has been given all sorts of details from the get-go.
Why is the NYTimes playing such a prominent role in creating the Russophobia being used to perpetuate wasteful military expenditures and stunted domestic development? Why no mention of the percentage of Crimeans who voted to rejoin Russia rather than blaming "Russian agression"? This is like the build-up to the second Iraq war. Stop the lies and distortions.
19
All this Russia election nonsense has poisoned the well for constructive efforts in addressing real problems. We need to work with Russia. Everyone is aware that the US has always attempted to influence internal Russian workings, isn't " turn about fair play" ?
When Gorbachev and Reagan worked together the world was far more safe than it is today. The Democrats have screwed up the relationship with the Russians so bad it is disgraceful. Now they are creating a new "Red Scare", I lived through the first, it was a drag.
These knucklehead Democrats took over 9 years ago and botched everything up. Hillary herself couldn't even make a "reset" button as a joke correctly, and how about the time Obama gave Putin a dirty look,
Oh my ! How manly.
So lets stop with the inflamatory articles, look at our war games in South Korea.
14
Great idea. Maybe while we're at it, we can collaborate with Russia on its annexation of entire regions of Ukraine. And then we can constructively engage in their assertion of sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean. And hey, maybe we can get those nasty sanctions lifted so that Exxon-Mobil can get back to partnering with Russia's state-owned oil company. Knucklehead Congress! And hey, let's not forget Russia's valuable role in stabilizing Syria.
7
@Junkman
No offense. But I disagree with everything you say.
But then, most Americans have no real clue about what Russia is about, and how it operates.
I lived in the Soviet Sektor of a country surrounded and divided by it well enough to know; this is not about the Democrats, Obama, or "creating a new "Red Scare"".
The Russians don't play 'Games'.
They play for real.
4
Why not? After all the US did cooperate with annexion of Serbian territory, not to mention the stabilizing American role in Libya and Afghanistan. Although Russians seems like more efficient in stabilization. Just look at Syria. The UN said that violence there goes down.