Russia Threatens Sweden and Finland
Al Ritter
Until recently Sweden and Finland’s aspirations to
join NATO haven’t been very high. In fact the historic neutrality of those two
countries has been in effect since WWII.
Putin’s aggression has certainly changed all that and
now Russia has threatened Sweden and Finland, warning serious military and
political consequences if they join NATO.
NATO was formed in 1949 to basically protect smaller
nations that had no means to protect themselves after WWII. The Axis powers in
WWII had an inside look at the brutality of Stalin and sought to curb his
ambitions.
I think the Foreign Minister of Sweden has seen that
same brutality and aggression in Putin and along with Finland wants to join the
other Nordic Countries already in NATO. She boldly claimed that she was worried
about Russia calling them a country with “Nothing to do.”
Sweden’s armed forces would be no match for Russia
that is a forgone conclusion, but with the help from NATO, Sweden could be a
force to be reckoned with.
I think the real sticking point is with Finland,
because they share a border with Russia, and Russia views other Countries with
common borders differently.
Putin views these Countries as a danger to Russia
especially when they have defensive weapons such as the American Patriot Missile
Defense system. I really don’t see Putin’s logic here, systems like these are
not setup to have an offensive first strike capability. Even if they did
striking a large nuclear capable country such as Russia would be disastrous for
them.
It is my opinion that a large group of countries are
smelling the blood in the water so to speak in regards to Russia’s ability to
wage a successful conventional war against a smaller country especially when
NATO countries are helping by supplying sophisticated weapon systems to the
Ukraine. Russia now has 65% of it's military devoted to the Ukraine invasion. If Putin is now threatening other countries he may be spreading his military too thin at this point.
The Ukraine is waging an Asymmetrical War, otherwise
known as Guerilla Warfare. They lost that war in Afghanistan, and it appears
they didn’t learn much from that loss. Russia is fighting with outdated
equipment and poorly trained troops because Russia basically can’t afford new
weapons or the proper training to an already financially strained country.
See more on this development here:
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