Adomas, maybe if the US-controlled NATO missiles were not pointed to the east provoking Russia, you would not have to be concerned for your security. We get more done by co-operation, keeping international law than by provocation.

It's no longer certain that Germany can rely on Germany for much longer: mass Muslim immigration thanks to the moron, Merkel; huge downturns in growth, thanks to unreliable energy; Germany and NATO told by Trump to start pulling their wait and stop sponging off America.

And, none of this should be of the slightest interest to Australia. Dumped by the EU and the 'mother country', Britain, we have no friends in Europe. The Brexit fiasco suggests that that part of the world is run by lunatics. We need to concentrate on preventing Australia from going the same way. To hell with Europe, which is already beyond redemption. It is there that Western civilisation started the downhill run.

I believe that the Baltic States are part of the
European Union (EU) and as such they are a small part
of a greater entity. An entity that does have a
responsibility for all its members - no matter what
challenges may lie ahead.

I believe that EU military and their allies recently
held military exercises in the Baltic States to the
displeasure of Russia. Therefore it appears that the
EU does function as an entity in response to its
neighbours.

For centuries Russia has always relied on its economic
growth by invading its neighbours. And unless it can
achieve internal economic security it will continue to
be a threat to adjoining countries - be it in Europe
or Asia. It would appear that for world security the
UN and other international bodies should take that into
account - as the Baltic States are currently doing.

The Economist tells us that - in the early 1990s
the President of the newly independent Estonia
gave a speech in Hamburg. In it he disparaged the
Soviet occupation of the Baltic States. A little
known Russian official was so outraged that he
stormed out.
It was Vladimir Putin.

This story recounted in Neil Taylor's new history
of Estonia is instructive. Mr Putin has called the
break up of the Soviet Union the "greatest
geopolitical catastrope of the (20th) century."

To Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians, that
label applies better to the Soviet Union itself.

Discussions of history often start with the phrase:
"Stalin murdered my grandparents." The sense that
this giant neighbour does not truly respect their
independence - let alone their membership of the
EU and NATO since 2004 - pervades Baltic politics
to this day.

Francesca,

Those missiles in the Baltic are probably pointing at Russian missiles pointing at the Baltic. I wonder how many are pointing and in which way ?

Joe

Hard to recall, when I've read a more risible piece of "journalistic" garbage!? Of course, Germany and Nato are going to come to the aid of the Baltic states! Because it is in their own self-interest as an absolute imperative to do so!
Alan B.

Reading this itty-bitty essay its as though NATO only consists of Germany and the Baltic States.

Nothing about Trump's isolationist, couldn't care less about Europe/NATO and "Estonia is only a suburb of Russia's St Petersburg" attitudes.

And vot off zee New Germany? What can one say, but http://youtu.be/HPXHRX8Q2hs

Here's a link that may be of interest:

http://thehill.com/opinion/international/382295-strategic-toughness-toward-russia-the-key-to-keeping-baltic-allies-safe

The missiles pointing at Russia are similar to the Patriot missiles and only launched to shoot down IBM missiles after they're launched! And why power and expansionist consumed Putin is so hostile to their deployment! And any other sovereign nation joining the NATO nuclear umbrella!

If smaller nations on the periphery can be peeled off? A sabre rattling Putin can divide NATO up a nation at a time! And the best possible reason for inviting all in who want to join! And ignoring the whim and caprice of a warmongering madman!?

Wouldn't worry too much about anti-NATO Trump if An unredacted, all revealing, Muller report is delivered to Congress? And, must be!
Alan B.

Dear Alan B.,

We should all be concerned about what Putin will
do in the Baltic and to NATO if Trump is still
President. If Russia chooses to attack the
Baltics and Trump is still President - hate to
think of the outcomes. The following link
explains:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/russia-nato-trump-shirref/492938/

Fear not, there's no way Putin will attack the Baltic states or anyone else for that matter while-ever Trump is president.

Putin was perfectly content to attack Ukraine and annex territory for the first time in Europe since WW2 while a prevaricator and appeaser like the Obamessiah was in charge.

But this president is a very different kettle of fish. Besides, under Trump's pressure, Russia is already suffering significant economic hardships. The last thing they need is to have that increased.

No one can rely on the Germans any longer. They have effectively abdicated all pretence of securing their own borders and have allowed their military to wither. They've gone back on their promise to increase their military spending and will instead rely on the USA defending buffer states such as Poland and the Balts.

Its reported that in the last NATO exercises, Germany could field barely 10% of their already depleted air force due to lack of maintenance and only 4 tanks.

Europe, while disparaging the US and its leader, are utterly dependent on each.

Oh god, I can see it now. The EU rushing off with all their might, to defend the Baltic states. They would be about as useful as Polish horse cavalry charging German tanks in WW2.

I can't imagine why any yank would be prepared to defend countries who have had no real investment in self defence in a decade or more.

With Britain gone, even our small force could probably defeat the combined EU strength.

"After fifteen years of NATO membership the Baltic States are still militarily vulnerable, because NATO is not all it is assumed to be. At the least, it is clear the Baltic States cannot rely on Germany any longer."

The Baltic states are under NATO's nuclear umbrella.

Moscow isn't going to risk an all out nuclear confrontation with NATO over the Baltic states.

Perhaps the Baltic states should be looking to Poland rather than Germany in terms of greater military cooperation. Warsaw appears more concerned with keeping Russian influence at bay than Berlin does (not that I necessarily agree with the premise that big bad Russia is out to recapture the old eastern bloc).

Bozec,

Of course it is. All of the Baltic states, and then Finland too. Maybe then Poland. Imperialists never sleep.

Joe

You know that something is wrong with your armed forces when a Greens Party member expresses concern about your militaries readiness for action. But as ttbn so correctly pointed out, the deutchies have more to fear from Islamic takeover through immigration and birth rate differentials, than worrying about Russia, which militarily is only a shadow of the old USSR.

Multiculturalism is a great way to start a war. In WW2, the Germans knew that Eastern Europe and even Russia contained large numbers of ethnic Germans, and they knew that they could rely upon these ethnic Germans to welcome a German invasion of their countries. Hitler used the false excuse of Poland oppressing ethnic Germans to invade Poland. Ethnic Germans from East European countries became the rulers of occupied Eastern Europe and provided the soldiers for the "action group" extermination squads. After WW2 ended, all East European countries engaged in ethnically cleansing the German minorities from their countries, as they rightly viewed them as an unacceptable internal threat. Peace through ethnic cleansing.

The USSR knew that the best way to keep the Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia "Russian" was to import millions of ethnic Russians into those occupied countries who could be relied upon be loyal to Russia. It worked quite well in the Ukraine. Now the Baltic states are wondering if Russia will do a Ukraine on them, using their very significant Russian minorities in those countries as both an excuse for invasion and to use the minorities as rulers after occupation.

So too, Japan's intention of invading Hawaii was because it knew that almost half of Hawaii's population was Japanese in 1930, and they too believed that they would welcome a Japanese invasion. They were probably right, which was why the US interned most ethnic Japanese during WW2.

Multiculturalism destabilizes entire countries and nobody can really tell if a certain minority within any will have sympathies with the enemy in times of war. As for Germany, the only thing that will save it now from becoming part of the caliphate will be another Adolph Hitler.

Thanks again, lefties.

The west may as well surrender now...

http://www.rbc.ru/politics/03/04/2019/5ca48a0c9a794775e7a3a6fd

or maybe not...

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/trump-is-turning-nato-into-a-viable-military-force/

mhaze,

Trumps now got it right.

http://theconversation.com/countering-russian-disinformation-the-baltic-nations-way-109366

And -

http://worldview.stratfor.com/article/baltic-nations-look-abroad-and-see-problems

LEGO,

The Japanese population in Hawai'i before the War was probably in single percentage figures. I could be wrong but I read somewhere that there wasn't a single case of sabotage of the US war effort by Japanese-Americans in the entire War anywhere in the US, which is why Japanese men in the internment camps were eventually allowed to join the US Armed forces, and serve in Italy, at Monte Cassino for example, and to give their lives for their country.

But I've also heard that lately, some Japanese-Americans have been allowed to apply for their family lands back. In the land of the free.

Joe

Don't forget that France is a Nuclear Armed member of NATO that can blow away Estonia to save it?
Behold the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_de_dissuasion .

France tested H-bombs in the Pacific http://youtu.be/ynhfPcZMT0Q . Just imagine if that air-burst test Bomb tethered to the blimp blew away - by accident or "hijacking" and was then triggered over our dear Oz?

And French agents blew up a ship in New Zealand, as a rather explosive gesture to protect France's bomb test good name. Remember Operation SATANIC in 1985? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior

Dear Pete,

Not sure if this is relevant.

But here 'tis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_sharing

To Loudmouth

According to WIKI, one third of Hawaii's population in 1942 were Japanese.

The lesson of history, is that people are usually loyal to their own culture, ethnicity, and language group. No matter what the leftist social experimenters say, birds of a feather just keep flocking together. So far, three very senior Chinese/American scientists have defected the China taking with them the secrets for US Stealth aircraft, ballistic missiles, and nuclear attack submarines.

When two nations go to war, the nation which holds a significant minority of their enemy nations population has got a real problem. That enemy minority may not engage in hostilities against the country they live in, provided that the nation in which they reside is winning. However, should the enemy nation succeed in defeating the multicultural nation, then the lesson of history is that the minority within the defeated country will gleefully change sides and become the masters of the defeated country.

That is why Russia seeded the Baltic states, Prussia, and the Ukraine with ethnic Russians. That is why the Chinese are seeding Tibet, Xinjiang, and Australia with ethnic Han Chinese.

The Japanese military leaders in 1942 went to war with the USA because they really did believe that they would win. They would take Midway and Hawaii and they expected the Japanese living in Hawaii to support them. If Japan had won, they probably would have done so. But the Japanese Americans realized that Tokyo had bit off more than they could chew. So they stayed loyal to the USA. Around 2000 Japanese Americans were interned in Hawaii because the US had cause not to trust them. This, of course, is held up by the leftists as yet another example of the white oppressors being nasty to minorities. But it was a practical military necessity.

Even Austrian and German Jews who had escaped German persecution in 1939 and who had fled to Britain, were not entirely trusted. They were excluded from some sensitive industries because they might have been Axis spies. Hitler's most effective spy for Rommel in Africa was a German Jew.

Hi Foxy

Thanks for the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_sharing#NATO

Which includes "the United States is known to have provided weapons for nuclear sharing. As of November 2009, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey are hosting U.S. nuclear weapons as part of NATO's nuclear sharing policy."

This frequenty means that Tornado and F-16 strike aircraft from those "non-nuclear armed" European nations ARE IN FACT nuclear armed with nuclear bombs.

There is often far less US day to day supervision than indicated in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_sharing#NATO

Scary!

@RACIST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritchie_Boys "The Ritchie Boys were the US special military intelligence officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Many of them were German-speaking immigrants to the United States, often Jews

who fled Nazi persecution. They were primarily utilized for interrogation of prisoners on the front lines and counter-intelligence in Europe because of their knowledge of the German language and culture.

The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 15,200 servicemen who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence during WWII at the secret Camp Ritchie training facility. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them were Jewish refugees born in Germany and Austria. Most of the men sent to Camp Ritchie for training were assigned there because of fluency in German, French, Italian, Polish, or other languages needed by the US Army during WWII."
____________________________________________________

An example of a Jewish intelligence officer working for the US army in WWII is one Henry Kissinger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger#Army_experience

"During the American advance into Germany, Kissinger, only a private, was put in charge of the administration of the city of Krefeld, owing to a lack of German speakers on the division's intelligence staff. Within eight days he had established a civilian administration.

Kissinger was then reassigned to the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC), where he became a CIC Special Agent holding the enlisted rank of sergeant. He was given charge of a team in Hanover assigned to tracking down Gestapo officers and other saboteurs, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star.

In June 1945, Kissinger was made commandant of the Bensheim metro CIC detachment, Bergstrasse district of Hesse, with responsibility for de-Nazification of the district. Although he possessed absolute authority and powers of arrest, Kissinger took care to avoid abuses against the local population by his command."