Russia Slams 'Cold War' Spirit NATO Exercise

[jakeXT]

MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – The scenario for a forthcoming NATO exercise in the ex-Soviet Baltic republics and Poland, in which those nations face invasion by a foreign power, is reminiscent of the Cold War period, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister said Thursday.

The exercise, dubbed Steadfast Jazz 2013, will be held in November in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. According to NATO, the primary purpose of the exercise is to test the command and control elements of NATO’s Response Force.

“As we prepared for this meeting, we carefully studied information received from NATO countries about Steadfast Jazz-2013,” Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov told a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels, according to the ministry's website.

“I can’t hide the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry was bewildered by the proclaimed goal of this exercise, which envisages the application of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty triggering a response to an aggression against Poland. These drills are in the spirit of the Cold War,” Antonov said.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20130725/182415452/Russia-Slams-Cold-War-Spirit-NATO-Exercise.html

[bemildred]

1. We really do miss the Soviets.

Enemies of sufficient stature to justify the vast sums of money we are pissing away are hard to come by.

The trouble is, they don't want to be our enemies any more.

[dipsydoodle]

2. NATO exists solely for the benefit of the USA

It should be dismantled.

[ShawnRIN]

3. I think it would be more accurate to say...

US support to NATO is primarily to support the US. Member nations benefit from being aligned with a nation that habitually pumps $600 billion + into their military each year. Its that whole spectrum of conflict thing.