Russia could achieve Ukraine incursion in 3-5 days - NATO general

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Russia has all the forces it needs on Ukraine's border if it were to decide to carry out an "incursion" into the country and it could achieve its objective in three to five days, NATO's top military commander said on Wednesday.

Calling the situation on the border "incredibly concerning", NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, said NATO had spotted signs of movement by a very small part of the Russian force overnight but no indication that it was returning to barracks.

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels had asked him to draw up by April 15 a package to reassure nervous NATO allies in eastern Europe that would include reinforcements by land, air and sea, he said in an interview with Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/uk-ukraine-crisis-breedlove-idUKBREA310J820140402

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Could

Spotted signs of movement ...............they never provide pics to substantiate claims

From a few days back ;

Tour of Ukraine-Russia Border Finds No Signs of Military Buildup.

We went to look for ourselves. Cameraman Dmitry Solovyov, sound engineer Alexei Gordienko and I packed our bags, devices and news-gathering gadgets into the back of our grey, nondescript bureau minivan and began a journey along the 1,200 mile border between Russia and Ukraine – many segments of which give no indication that it’s an actual border between two countries.

>

We traveled some 500 miles along the border – sometimes right next to Ukraine, at other times 30 to 40 miles from it – before we came across any sign of military activity. As we passed Belgorod’s army base, near the airport, I recognized the same MI-24 choppers I’d seen on the Internet. We got lucky – a pair took off as we drove past. We turned back to see them banking within the base’s perimeter. Nearby, clusters of military vehicles, mostly heavy trucks, were out in the open, but where were the tanks and artillery?

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/tour-ukraine-russia-border-finds-no-signs-military-buildup-n67336

[CFLDem]

1. So is there build up

Or is there not build up?

I have a feeling we're being taken for a ride.

[newfie11]

2. War war war war war war

Got to have a war, it is the USA WAY!!!!

Now that we are almost out of any war the MIC is hungering for another!!!

[reddread]

5. absolutely right, they are hungry for more

as if the Olympic supersized outrage and publicity storm didnt forecast these events.
Id love to see the schedule they are working within.
aint none of this spontaneous.
for Pussy Riot, gay rights, the people of the Ukraine, the fetuses, the babies in the incubators,
godless communism, toilet paper shortages, the Domino Effect, the Gulf of Tonkin!
just because.
energy and money?
hell no, thats crazy talk.
for God and Country, and because the Drone contracts have peaked and demand is nearly saturated.

[JackRiddler]

3. Russia could blow up United States in 20 minutes

What's with the piddling around on the scare scenarios? Why not just go straight to the tried and true traditional scenario?

This also reminds me of Western coverage about Saddam's (non-existent) build-up on the Saudi border back in 1990.

[Nihil]

10. Hey ... image faking takes time you know?

> This also reminds me of Western coverage about Saddam's (non-existent) build-up on the Saudi border back in 1990.

They've got a shitload of sand to replace with grass & trees in those photos before they can reissue them!

Now waiting for the first person to blame a sneeze in Kiev on "Russian bio-weapons" ...

[Benton D Struckcheon]

4. Good find on that NBC article.

Well done.
I'm guessing Breedlove had bought himself some gold, and needed to juice the price so as to cut losses he would have taken on that. Up 10 on that story.
Sometimes the simplest answers are the best.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Wasn't me who found that

It was snappyturtle http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=770200

[jakeXT]

8. There are more, although the wsj claims Russia made them invisible

http://my.firedoglake.com/fairleft/2014/04/01/new-big-ukraine-lie-russia-amassing-troops-at-the-border/

Finally, here is the other leader of the pro-war troops, the Wall Street Journal, saying in so many words that the U.S. doesn’t have a single photo showing a build up of troops near the Ukraine border:

Military officials said [Russian] camouflaging has further complicated U.S. efforts to assess the size and scope of the military forces being put in place.

‘They have moved into concealed positions,’ said a senior military official.

The official said concealment could be aimed at obscuring images taken by American spy satellites.

[mwooldri]

7. Just like I could save on car insurance in 15 mins...

Lots of things could happen. Russia could do it in less time than that. Or more.

There's one thing that could be done... give Ukraine temporary associate membership of NATO. Putin would be pissed. And if anything happened further then we're looking at a new Great War... just like it was 100 years ago where country A would fight with country B if C invaded them... and D would have to join in.... and so on.

[bemildred]

9. Breedlove, Strangelove, hmmmm. He seems to have a war boner all right.

Saw a picture of him giving testimony in Congress, he looked mad.

[mazzarro]

11. I wonder which to believe regarding Russia and Ukraine

Some pundits - military and political - tell us that Russian military is decrepit and a shadow of the former Soviet military; while other pundits, neocons, neoliberals and some military leaders like Breedlove tell us that the Russian military is so capable that it can achieve Russian objectives in Ukraine fast - IOW it is that good - eh?

[amandabeech]

12. The Russian military isn't what it was at the height of the cold war, certainly,

but it has received more funding in the past 3-5 years, so it has improved some from the '90s, when Russia was in deep financial trouble.

From what I've read, though, Ukraine's military is much smaller than Russia's and is in really bad shape, probably due to the fact that Ukraine's economy is in really bad shape and there has been very little money to keep up the military. As we all know here, a military is very expensive to maintain.

At this point, Russia probably would not have any trouble with Ukraine in the field, but Russia would probably face a guerrilla movement if it stayed for any length of time in Ukraine.

[dipsydoodle]

13. Ukraine's economy is in really bad shape.

Period.

That's why the west will now be able to buy the country..........partially by the simple but inevitable consequence of default on loans which will result in the handing over of state assets on which the loans were secured.

[amandabeech]

14. Much is already bought by Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs now.

I'm not sure how much is really left in Ukraine that could be extracted by the West.

Ukrainians will vote on a new president in May. Yanukovich's party is running a candidate in the election--someone from Kharkiv. Undoubtedly, that candidate will want to continue Yanukovich's move to Russia. Voters who wish to move closer to Russia will have a candidate, and will be able to express their preference by voting for that individual.

Let the Ukrainians decide for themselves which way they want their country to move at that election in May.

[dipsydoodle]

15. I agree - only they should decide.

Devoid of outside influence but at least given the knowledge of likely outcomes of their decisions.

[Nihil]

17. Not just the oligarchs btw ...

Don't forget that China (as in the rather large overpopulated country sitting in the background
and watching the children squabble) has bought 5% of Ukraine (9% of its total arable farmland).

The peasants on the ground in Ukraine are just SOL when it comes to determining their own lives.


(It was discussed on DU in the past and a quick search found this link for those who twitch without them:
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/09/23/China-buys-5-percent-of-Ukraines-land/5941379959745/)

[dipsydoodle]

19. That's a 50 year lease on the farmland.

China does not have title to the land.

I would imagine the local labour force benefits from being employed.

[Boreal]

16. Russia isn't go to invade Ukraine or anyone else

but western officials and press make it sound like they're ready to roll into Kiev, Moldova and the Baltic states. One reason for this hysteria (lies) could be because for a few years the US has been warning that Europe needs to contribute more to NATO.




Jun 10, 2011

“There will be dwindling appetite and patience in the United States Congress -- and in the American body politic writ large -- to expend increasingly precious funds on behalf of nations that are apparently unwilling to devote the necessary resources or make the necessary changes to be serious and capable partners in their own defense,” Gates said.

Gates issued the warning as both continents struggle with the remains of the global recession and President Barack Obama seeks $400 billion in defense spending cuts over 12 years to reduce the deficit. While Gates and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen have cautioned European members not to reduce defense spending further, the implicit threat that the U.S. may withdraw support for the alliance marks a hardening of the U.S. position.

Rasmussen last year said European defense risked becoming a “paper tiger.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-10/gates-says-european-defense-spending-lag-risks-rendering-nato-irrelevant.html



WASHINGTON, May 6, 2013 – NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned today that further cuts in defense spending by European nations risk reducing the continent’s defense and security to “hot air,” turning the alliance into what he called a “global spectator” rather than a real force on the world stage.

“The only way to avoid this is by holding the line on defense spending and to start reinvesting in security as soon as our economies recover,” he told a meeting in Brussels of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Rasmussen said European nations should not become absorbed by their own domestic issues, including sluggish economies that have contributed to defense cuts, and instead develop a “truly global perspective” to respond to crises further away from home.

“Having the right capabilities is important, but it is not enough,” he said. “We must also have the political will to use them, to deal with security challenges on Europe’s doorstep, to help manage crises further away that might affect us here at home, and to better share the security burden with our North American allies.”

//

It was the latest in a series of warnings over the past several years by Rasmussen that further cuts by European governments in defense spending could put NATO’s viability at risk. In 2011, Rasmussen said the trend suggested the continent was headed toward getting out of the security business entirely, pointing out that European nations had cut their defense budgets by $45 billion - the equivalent of Germany’s entire annual defense budget - while U.S contributions to NATO had increased from about half of total alliance spending to close to 75 percent.

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=119940



Nothing ups defense budgets like fear AND it's not right that Americans are stuck paying for Europe's defense. So, this current deal with Ukraine provides the perfect opportunity to up the pressure on Europe.

[Daniel537]

18. Not our business, not our problem. n/t