I understand the fear of the Baltics, but this is absolutely not the way. There is way too much historic/contemporary isolationism in the United States to support a NATO ally that preemptively attacks.
The_Great_Googly_Moo on
A preemptive strike goes against what NATO is, a defensive treaty. Therefore if Estonia or Poland or any other country attacked no other NATO state would be obliged to support them. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, based on the fact that it wouldn’t really take too much to topple Putin’s government at this point
ReallyGneiss on
Honestly at this point, i would probably back the Estonian army to take Moscow in three days. How far Russia has fallen…
FeelingAd752 on
Outstanding, winter coming, it is good time, CHARGE NOW
macross1984 on
If Estonia is counting on rest of NATO joining the attack or at least come to defense of Estonia, I would say think twice as NATO was created as defensive against Russian attacking first to member country.
PoliticalCanvas on
Good.
In theory, NATO is a defense alliance. But what exactly defense is?
If right now Russia, North Korea, Iran will begin to produce hundreds of nukes each, and supply them among allies, then, what, NATO officials will just say: “NATO is only about defense, so even when our enemies if strengthen themselves we just cannot do anything with this.”?
It’s absurd. The same absurd that lead to modern World where only 20% of World’s population live in free countries and most nuclear countries at lest have autocratic tendencies.
World which was created also by NATO passivity.
Flaky-Advisor-8197 on
uhhh what, hold on, eesti bros, not like this
US_Sugar_Official on
Russia would like nothing better than for Estonia to give up mutual defense treaty protections, whoever came up with this cum brained PR stunt needs to be escorted directly to the nearest airlock.
i7Rhodok_Condottiero on
Readiness is good. But they have a very small population so they need a lot of fire power.
Also, relying on allies is dangerous. It is good to have allies but it is bad to rely on them for total victory.
voces-chaos on
As much as I despise Russia, preemptively striking Russia is not something I would support.
SuspiciousFishRunner on
Estonians, I like you. But let’s not play right into Russia’s hand and show how much of NATO is only a defensive alliance in theory.
Nero92 on
Nothing like a good old saber rattling.Â
ouath on
Showing/saying that you are prepared to make the first move is a defensive move otherwise you just don’t talk openly about it.
Previous_String_4347 on
I don’t think the people that live in NATO want a war with russia
Particular-Life6776 on
They’d only do it if they see Russia about to attack nato
CupidStunt13 on
Love the positive attitude but let’s not get crazy Estonia.
excitement2k on
Estonedia
Less_Tension_1168 on
This is where it all begins. Defending NATO which is the right thing to do but this is the beginning of a big problem. Russia started it NATO and alliances will clean this mess up.
Stunning-Positive186 on
Estonia should be more careful. It’s a new world order post 7/10. Russia would, by The Gaza Precedent, be justified in obliterating Estonia in self-defence.
Armthedillos5 on
It looks like the General was signalling that NATO is in fact on board. A preemptive strike, is, by definition, a defensive maneuver.
As stated in the article, if Russia started plans to invade another NATO country (troop buildup/movements/escalated invasion of airspace/etc), Putin dude, they’re not going to wait for you to hit first, so chill with the rhetoric and rattling.
That seems like the message here.
zerdo5632 on
Let’s… not do that.
Rdhilde18 on
Alright Estonia just chill out alright. All we need is Estonia to launch a preemptive strike and then Trump gets elected and lets the baltic states get pummeled.
TempUser9097 on
Estonia: “Hold me back, bro!”
candylandmine on
ok pipe down there little dog
Nocosicko on
This is not good. I don’t think people understand what thermonuclear war is lol
JonBoy82 on
Estonia’ like the dude from Dazed and Confused thinking they can get the pot shot on the big bad and the crowd will step in before they’d have to go 1v1
Munnodol on
The Estonians have been looking forward to this
SuspiciousFishRunner on
It’s crucial to recognize that NATO’s effectiveness relies on collective action. While all NATO members are treaty-bound to respond (which doesn’t mean it has to be military, mind you) to an attack on a member state, willingness to act and actually doing so will heavily depend on political will in the individual states. Which is instantly the biggest weakness of NATO and one Russia is well aware of. I highly doubt Hungary, Turkey just to name two would get behind Estonia if this were to happen, or in general will actual turn out to be reliable partners in case of a war with the Russians.
salviva on
An attack on ONE is an attack on ALL. This is a totally unavoidable powder keg. There’s no one named Franz Ferdinand or Unified germany.
30 Comments
I understand the fear of the Baltics, but this is absolutely not the way. There is way too much historic/contemporary isolationism in the United States to support a NATO ally that preemptively attacks.
A preemptive strike goes against what NATO is, a defensive treaty. Therefore if Estonia or Poland or any other country attacked no other NATO state would be obliged to support them. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, based on the fact that it wouldn’t really take too much to topple Putin’s government at this point
Honestly at this point, i would probably back the Estonian army to take Moscow in three days. How far Russia has fallen…
Outstanding, winter coming, it is good time, CHARGE NOW
If Estonia is counting on rest of NATO joining the attack or at least come to defense of Estonia, I would say think twice as NATO was created as defensive against Russian attacking first to member country.
Good.
In theory, NATO is a defense alliance. But what exactly defense is?
If right now Russia, North Korea, Iran will begin to produce hundreds of nukes each, and supply them among allies, then, what, NATO officials will just say: “NATO is only about defense, so even when our enemies if strengthen themselves we just cannot do anything with this.”?
It’s absurd. The same absurd that lead to modern World where only 20% of World’s population live in free countries and most nuclear countries at lest have autocratic tendencies.
World which was created also by NATO passivity.
uhhh what, hold on, eesti bros, not like this
Russia would like nothing better than for Estonia to give up mutual defense treaty protections, whoever came up with this cum brained PR stunt needs to be escorted directly to the nearest airlock.
Readiness is good. But they have a very small population so they need a lot of fire power.
Also, relying on allies is dangerous. It is good to have allies but it is bad to rely on them for total victory.
As much as I despise Russia, preemptively striking Russia is not something I would support.
Estonians, I like you. But let’s not play right into Russia’s hand and show how much of NATO is only a defensive alliance in theory.
Nothing like a good old saber rattling.Â
Showing/saying that you are prepared to make the first move is a defensive move otherwise you just don’t talk openly about it.
I don’t think the people that live in NATO want a war with russia
They’d only do it if they see Russia about to attack nato
Love the positive attitude but let’s not get crazy Estonia.
Estonedia
This is where it all begins. Defending NATO which is the right thing to do but this is the beginning of a big problem. Russia started it NATO and alliances will clean this mess up.
Estonia should be more careful. It’s a new world order post 7/10. Russia would, by The Gaza Precedent, be justified in obliterating Estonia in self-defence.
It looks like the General was signalling that NATO is in fact on board. A preemptive strike, is, by definition, a defensive maneuver.
As stated in the article, if Russia started plans to invade another NATO country (troop buildup/movements/escalated invasion of airspace/etc), Putin dude, they’re not going to wait for you to hit first, so chill with the rhetoric and rattling.
That seems like the message here.
Let’s… not do that.
Alright Estonia just chill out alright. All we need is Estonia to launch a preemptive strike and then Trump gets elected and lets the baltic states get pummeled.
Estonia: “Hold me back, bro!”
ok pipe down there little dog
This is not good. I don’t think people understand what thermonuclear war is lol
Estonia’ like the dude from Dazed and Confused thinking they can get the pot shot on the big bad and the crowd will step in before they’d have to go 1v1
The Estonians have been looking forward to this
It’s crucial to recognize that NATO’s effectiveness relies on collective action. While all NATO members are treaty-bound to respond (which doesn’t mean it has to be military, mind you) to an attack on a member state, willingness to act and actually doing so will heavily depend on political will in the individual states. Which is instantly the biggest weakness of NATO and one Russia is well aware of. I highly doubt Hungary, Turkey just to name two would get behind Estonia if this were to happen, or in general will actual turn out to be reliable partners in case of a war with the Russians.
An attack on ONE is an attack on ALL. This is a totally unavoidable powder keg. There’s no one named Franz Ferdinand or Unified germany.
The best defense is a good offense