Posted on 03/19/2015 6:14:57 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
KALISZ, Poland — For evidence of how much President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has jangled nerves and provoked anxiety across Eastern Europe, look no farther than the drill held the other day by the Shooters Association.
The paramilitary group, like more than 100 others in Poland, has experienced a sharp spike in membership since Mr. Putin’s forces began meddling in neighboring Ukraine last year.
Thirty students took an oath to defend Poland at all costs, joining nearly 200 other regional members of the association — young men and women, boys and girls — marching in formation around the perimeter of the dusty high school courtyard here. They crossed Polish Army Boulevard and marched into the center of town, sprawling in four long lines along the edge of St. Joseph’s Square.
Gen. Boguslaw Pacek, an adviser to the Polish defense minister and the government’s chief liaison with these paramilitary groups, marched with them. He has been making the rounds in recent months of such gatherings: student chapters like this one, as well as groups of veterans, even battle re-enactors.
One of those who took the oath in Kalisz was Bartosz Walesiak, 16, who said he had been interested in the military since playing with toy soldiers as a little boy, but had been motivated to join the Shooters Association after Russia moved into Crimea.
“I think that Putin will want more,” he said.
“Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are already getting ready for such a scenario, so Poland must do the same.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I dont trust NATO any more than England and France in 1939. NATO will abandandon Poland and the rest of the eastern block back to the Russians at the first opportunity.
Yup.
What confidence do you have that Obama and the rest of NATO will actually honor our treaty commitment to Poland rather than try to negotiate the problem away while Poles die, or just sell out Poland entirely?
Yeah, me neither.
Even if Obama were to honor the commitment, the Poles have to hang on long enough and delay the Red Army enough for help to actually *get* there.
Everyone knew war was coming prior to WW1, they just weren’t anyway certain where, when or why.
World War 2, it was immediately obvious for over a decade prior to the US’ entry into the war.
Article Five of NATO would be invoked by the attacked country, and if Article Five is NOT ACTED ON in defense of that NATO country, then that essentially means — in all practical terms (in “real life”) — that NATO HAS BEEN DISSOLVED and it will no longer be relevant and members will abandon it rapidly as being of no practical use at all, in the world!
North Atlantic Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Treaty
See Post #25 ...
Okay, so the math on that would be 10,260,000 people out of 38 million. Nice try defaming the Poles, Putinist.
If only the rest of Western Europe woke up like this.
I would not bet on that.
Concur. The west is lead by miscreants.
Arm EVERY Polish citizen. The Russians will stay home.
Yeah, I was about to say, “Hey, that’s 10 million people!”. Anyone can win with 10 million if they are tenacious enough in a defensive war.
Lol...is that how neocons do math or are you just unfamiliar with the term ‘adult’?
Amother math whiz...lol!
“is that how neocons do math or are you just unfamiliar with the term ‘adult’?”
Is that how morons like yourself ignore the fact that major wars in Eastern Europe are never restricted to “adults”?
By the way, here is the breakdown (and I guarantee you there will be 15 year old soldiers on the Polish side if there is a Russian invasion):
15-24 years: 11.9% (male 2,333,627/female 2,235,228)
25-54 years: 43.8% (male 8,459,153/female 8,355,491)
55-64 years: 14.7% (male 2,658,106/female 2,973,933)
65 years and over: 15% (male 2,224,569/female 3,513,339) (2014 est.)
That still mean more than 7.5 million fighters. That’s more than enough.
That’s actually incentive for Obama to *not* honor the commitment. Or worse, pretend he is while slow walking everything and issuing impossible ROEs.
Say we subtract 5.7 percent from the 15-24 number bracket that Vladimir provided, and ignore everyone over the age of 54, 27 percent of that number is still 5,130,000 people.
Then say only 200,000-500,000 of that same number actually walk the walk, Poland, whatever the case, will not want for defenders.
Russia will say that’s “200,000 Nazis for the Polish Junta,” and you’ll be on FR agreeing, assuming a nuke hadn’t landed on your house or the internet has gone down from WWIII.
Poland is a real country
Yep ... quite true ... AND, therefore, giving us another reason why “elections have consequences”!
the Poles may be in deep doo doo with this gutless president. just sayin.
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