‘I believe the Russians are mobilizing right now for a war that they think is going to happen in five or six years—not that they’re going to start a war in five or six years, but I think they are anticipating that things are going to happen, and that they will be in a war of some sort, of some scale, with somebody within the next five or six years.”
So says Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe.
What Russian President Vladimir Putin “has done in Ukraine,” he says, “is a manifestation of a strategic view of the world. So when you look at the amount of equipment that has been provided, and the quality and sophistication of the equipment that has been provided to what I would call his proxies . . . they clearly have no intention of leaving there.”
The new weapons Mr. Putin has supplied to these proxies include “some of the latest air-defense systems,” says Gen. Hodges. “They also have brought in some of the latest, most-effective jamming, what we would call electronic-warfare, systems.” This level of assistance suggests Ukraine “is not a foray, not a demonstration. They are deploying capabilities way above and beyond anything that any militia or rebel organization could ever come up with.”
The fact that the political class in the West is still splitting hairs about the nature of the insurgency in Ukraine is testament to the success of the Kremlin’s strategy of waging war without admitting it
But he adds that the fact that the Russians rehearse nuclear-strike scenarios “shows that they’re not worried about conveying a stark message like that. You know, frankly, you hear this often from many people in the West, ‘Oh, we don’t want to provoke the Russians.’ I think concern about provoking the Russians is probably misplaced. You can’t provoke them. They’re already on a path to do what they want to do.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/weekend-interview-gen-frederick-hodges-on-natos-russian-front-1423266333
So says Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe.
What Russian President Vladimir Putin “has done in Ukraine,” he says, “is a manifestation of a strategic view of the world. So when you look at the amount of equipment that has been provided, and the quality and sophistication of the equipment that has been provided to what I would call his proxies . . . they clearly have no intention of leaving there.”
The new weapons Mr. Putin has supplied to these proxies include “some of the latest air-defense systems,” says Gen. Hodges. “They also have brought in some of the latest, most-effective jamming, what we would call electronic-warfare, systems.” This level of assistance suggests Ukraine “is not a foray, not a demonstration. They are deploying capabilities way above and beyond anything that any militia or rebel organization could ever come up with.”
The fact that the political class in the West is still splitting hairs about the nature of the insurgency in Ukraine is testament to the success of the Kremlin’s strategy of waging war without admitting it
But he adds that the fact that the Russians rehearse nuclear-strike scenarios “shows that they’re not worried about conveying a stark message like that. You know, frankly, you hear this often from many people in the West, ‘Oh, we don’t want to provoke the Russians.’ I think concern about provoking the Russians is probably misplaced. You can’t provoke them. They’re already on a path to do what they want to do.”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/weekend-interview-gen-frederick-hodges-on-natos-russian-front-1423266333
Vastaukset 3
Vanhimmat
The time span is shorter as Mr Putin should on the other hand secure his leadership in Russia. Seems to be that Mr Putin doesn't have so much valid options at the moment other than war. So in the next coming months we will see annexation of the southern Ukraine, or an overthrow of the legimitage government of Ukraine. The Russian leaderhip has secured at least the annexation of southern Ukraine at Minks this week.
Also, the risk of hybrid warfare against the Baltic states and Poland has increased and the NATO countermeasures so far are not sufficient. The threat against the Baltic states is real and in case the Russian leadership decides to start a hybrid warfare there NATO response is not necessarily adequate enough.
Regarding Finland, it is more than obvious that non-aligned neighboring country of Russia will essentially have a puppet government and possibly a hostile occupation in worst case. On scenario is that Russia will send its own peacekeepers to that country after Russian sent "separatists" and covert special forces units have induced some clashes with the local population.
At this time the following developing scenarios should be monitored very closely. Firs t of all whether the Ukrainian crisis escalate and Russia succeed to annex the southern part of that country. Also, whether Russia decides to overthrow the government in Minsk. The third development is in the Gulf of Finland. Russia is obviously interested in achieving the free access to the archipelago of Aland.
No, missä ne on?
No sinähän et nyt näkisi vaikka ryssä työntäisi kalasnikovin piippua takapuoleesi....Taitaisit vain voihkia kiimoissasi?