NEWS ALERT: NATO threatens Russia amidst LIVE Fire Military Exercises

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

As I said, the exercise is held every year by Estonia. This year is a bit bigger, but it's hardly shocking.

As for the "General" - he wasn't, he is Secretary-General, a civilian - he is just reiterating the stated diplomatic aim of pretty much all of the EU and NATO countries and actually the detail of the Minsk agreement which Russia signed up to also calls for exactly the same thing - the withdrawal of Russian solders, the end of support for the separatists etc which they haven;t done and, it would appear, are actually building up forces for a renewed summer offensive.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

I didn't say no NATO forces were involved. The original article said that 13,000 NATO troops were involved, and the sources I found about it dais that was the number of Estonian troops, with a much smaller number of NATO troops.

How could I have said there were no NATO troops involved of I commented about US armor being shipped at the beginning of the year to Estonia for this exercise? The US is part of NATO, therefore NATO troops are involved.

I've also never denied they were in response to Russian actions. I denied it was in response to the comments about Russia using nuclear weapons against NATO if thru don't stop training in the Baltic.

I'm not being confrontational. I'm pointing out the BS in that article.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Xcalibur254

The 13,000 are Estonian too.

This is what you wrote.

When actuality only 7,000 troops were Estonian, and the other 6,000 were from 8 other different NATO countries.

you also mentioned on page two.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
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Not to mention that the 13,000 troops are Estonian, not from NATO.
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Estonia’s largest-ever military exercise involving 13,000 soldiers kicks off (14)

5/4/2015 10:04 AM
Category: Politics

"Hedgehog", a two-week military exercise that takes place in different parts of the country, involves 13,000 soldiers, including reservists, conscripts, active-duty personnel, officials, Defense League members and allied troops.

In an unprecedented scale for Estonia, up to 7,000 reserve soldiers have been called up to participate in the largest military manoeuvres the nation has seen.
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Allied troops from eight different countries will also take part. They will be using artillery, tanks and fighter jets, including the US Abrams tanks, four US close air support A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, four Royal Air Force’s Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, and four Polish attack planes SU-22.
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news.err.ee...

6,000 troops, plus artillery equipment, tanks, and fighter jets were from other NATO countries. In total 8 NATO countries participated with Estonia.

Not to mention that Estonia is a member state of NATO.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

And once again, the source I found said 13,000 Estonian troops, along with US and NATO troops.

I also said this:

But your RT source you just quoted shows that US armor arrived in Estonia almost a month before he said that, on March 14th, which would have had it in transit from the US as early as the end of January.

So you're saying the US isn't part of NATO?

There are 21,000 NATO troops performing exercises in response to Putin in Estonia, Lithuania, and Norway.

Amid near Cold War-level tensions in the Baltics and signs that Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels are gearing up for another offensive, NATO is sending Putin a clear message: Do not think about meddling in NATO states in the Baltic or eastern Europe.
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"The exercises in Estonia, Lithuania and Norway involve more than 21,000 troops and state-of-the-art military hardware," Carol J. Williams reports for the LA Times. "Coupled with U.S. training of Ukrainian forces and the recent activation of a 3,000-strong rapid-reaction force to defend Eastern Europe, they appear intended to send a message to Moscow that the alliance is ready to defend its new members in Russia's backyard."
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www.businessinsider.com...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
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So you're saying the US isn't part of NATO?

So now you are saying it was me who wrote that?...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
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Not to mention that the 13,000 troops are Estonian, not from NATO.
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To hell with it, you obviously are looking for a fight and I'm done with it.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

I know it probably please Putin to think all these exercises are in response to him, but they are not. All of them are annual exercises that are planned and well advertised long in advance.

That one in Lithuania you linked to is part of Baltic Fortress 2015 - an exercise that has been going on for quite a few years.

Dynamic Mongoose - another exercise (an ASW one) mentioned in your link - has also been going on for several years at least and was probably called something else before that as NATO forces regularly train together.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ok so we both made mistakes. At least we can agree on that.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

don't ya' like how this crap is given the name 'exercise'?

there are plenty of cookies/natural resources to go around, why is sharing so frowned upon?

I guess we're too busy hating each other to realize anything beyond our own nose...

a reply to: stumason

And for a number of years Russia, and China alongside some other countries part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have been holding military exercises as well. Meanwhile NATO is not ready to admit it, these exercises are in fact show of force responses as well as training.

China and Russia have been also advertising for a year or two that they will hold the first Mediterranean military exercise together in 2015.

rt.com...

These show of force/military training exercises have been going on for long.

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

The latest Russia/China exercise in the Med is the first of its kind and It was also noted how unusual it was because its occurring in an area where neither nation has a coastline. Since they are in international waters there is not much anyone can do about but just observe, just like Russia does with NATO exercises.


NATO is a defensive alliance and its articles can only be invoked if a member nation is attacked and even then it depends on where the sovereign territory in question is - IE Europe and North America. Its why NATO was not involved when Argentina invaded the Falklands Island.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Is Breedlove a NATO 'member'? He is a warhawk through and through. I have yet to hear anything spill out of his mouth that sounds half way like common sense. He just seems to want to play with his toys. And he doesn't care if he blows up the world doing it either.

originally posted by: Zcustosmorum
Let's take a closer look at this article, some weird site I've never heard of before, there's no actual and direct quotes being used and we have some rabid, sensationalist-seeking person blabbing on about this & that with no direct evidence.

I wouldn't hold out much hope on the credibility of this article

You know what? I don't relish attacking the messenger, but this guy and his mother were doing re-collections and reverse mortgages not too long ago. I recall some bible freak trying to get me to read his newsletters, shortly after 911. I'm like 'no, thank you, my brain still works…' A-and, his rates were not competitive. I believe that these money hucksters use the doom porn in their MO as a way to increase their predatory financial wet dreams. It all becomes part of their client (hit) list. So sick of it. No surprise everyone's a freaking journalist, or financial advisor these days. And nobody can tell it straight.

The bible freak still chases Franchi and his ilk.
Where there's dead meat, there's Gary Franchi.
I try to block out the sounds of their voices, is all.
Any and all of 'em.

Or, rather, I make sure that the sound vibrations and all they contain, get to the right place, because I don't need to hear it.

www.youtube.com...

enjoy!

# 438

YT offering is Steven Christ channel "The Sun will Stop and Not Go Down"

a reply to: Dimithae

Is Breedlove a NATO 'member'?

A single person cannot be a NATO member, but the country he is from surely is.

a reply to: Dimithae

He just seems to want to play with his toys. And he doesn't care if he blows up the world doing it either.

Doesn't every person on this planet do the same thing...especially if they are new.

And blowing up the world means him dying, and his family members dying...why wouldn't he care?

a reply to: ElectricUniverse

originally posted by: Zaphod58
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So you're saying the US isn't part of NATO?

originally posted by: ElectricUniverse
So now you are saying it was me who wrote that?...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
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Not to mention that the 13,000 troops are Estonian, not from NATO.
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To clarify, the armed forces of member countries are just that, the armed forces of each respective country. Each member commits a certain number of forces and equipment to NATO that are specifically tasked, under the authority, and commanded by NATO. NATO does not command the entire armed forces of each country. The Estonian troops are under command of Estonia, not NATO. (ETA: While the remaining forces/equipment are on lend to, and under command of NATO from various member states - to include some coming from the U.S.)

As a fair comparison, it is like the Cleveland Cavaliers sending Lebron James to play on the U.S. Olympics team. 99% of the time he belongs to Cleveland and Cleveland only, but 1% of the time he belongs to the Olympic team and not Cleveland; meanwhile, his teammates are part of Cleveland 100% of the time and the Olympic team 0%. And, in this situation, it would be similar to some of the Cavaliers practicing with the Olympic team, which Lebron is currently playing with, and not his home team.

ETA: Is this the source of some of the confusion/frustration? And I hope my post clears some of that up?

a reply to: Dimithae

General Breedlove is commander of US Forces Europe and is also the Supreme Allied Commander - Europe of NATO allied command.

In addition to the military aspect NATO also has a political body composed of representatives from the respective countries.

a reply to: AllSourceIntel

not quite..

NATO is a defensive alliance only with member nations. NATO does not have a standing military per se however they do have a standing "liaison" segment, so to speak. If a war were to break out involving NATO they would facilitate the transition from local military command to the alliance command for coordination.

NATO does not have a standard uniform, contrary to the reporting coming from the Russian backed media in E. Ukraine.

Poland's military belongs to Poland just as the UK's belong to the UK. They have their own national priorities, training etc. However, since they are both NATO members they participate in joint training. That way, if a war breaks out we wont see the issues we saw during WWII with overlapping commands and different strategic goals.

It would allow Polish and UK military units to operate effectively under a joint command, including UK forces being under the command of Polish Generals via NATO alliance and vice versa.

If Poland were to invade Russia Poland would not be protected by NATO. NATO only works when a member nation is attacked.

a reply to: Xcathdra
Correct, and I understand all of that, I have supported and been tasked directly to NATO along with dozens of exercises and training scenarios with them myself. I more or less, I suppose, was hoping to ensure everyone here understood a soldier as part of their own forces and a soldier as a part of NATO forces. While you are right they are more or less in a liaison role, for lack of a better word at the moment, there are still some tasked to, and only to NATO, in a rotating (member state and soldier rotation) for operations. Their monitoring mission in the Med (counter-terrorism following 9/11) and anti-piracy operation are likely the best example of this.