Thursday, March 31, 2022

Russia Threatens Sweden and Finland

 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 Russia is fighting with outdated equipment and poorly trained troops because Russia basically can’t afford new weapons or the proper training to an already financially strained country.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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C1cLCBV2I4

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