Blind hatred of Russia based in the past, blind trust in the UK and US Neocons that ignores the past and present, and … this is where you wind up. When Russia finishes, victor over NATO, Poland will be left to the forces that hate Poland more than Russia does now: Western Globalists, who despise Polish devotion to its culture and history, rooted in Christianity.
Much delusional thinking within NATO and with the Polish leadership, such as it is.
Poland has a way of poofing itself in and out of history and may well do so again, along the lines The Ukraine has taken, if the bought off Polish leadership is used as is the Kyiv leadership.
Unless national sentiment has changed since escaping the yoke of communism, I don’t think blind faith in the UK or US is a real thing. I grew up near a Polish community near Detroit, many Poles of the WWII era had a absolute hatred of FDR (for selling them out to the Soviets) and a wary trust in the US acting in their best interest.
I’m also sure doing without still is embedded in their collective psyche from those years and never letting communism take them again is an overwhelming concern.
I had no idea that Poland was not in the Euro currency! As bad as their economy is that may - may - save them some initial pain down the road.
On the point of them hoping to militarise: one major effect of the EU was the drain of humanity it caused from the poorer countries to the wealthier ones. Literally all of the Balkan states; the eastern and central European states and Italy had a demographic fall as their young and fit left for better opportunities westward. When Brexit happened the Remoaners were hysterically screaming that all the Eastern Europeans (majority Polish and Romanian) would leave - something like 3 million of them elected to apply for permanent UK residence. Poland or any other Balkan state can never militarise to any significant degree because the EU (France Germany and UK) stole their people.
A generation ago in Chicago I could assume that any time I heard a Slavic language being spoken, say in the subway, if I'd get close enough it would turn out to be Polish. Now it could be anything. Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbo-Croat or something else I wouldn't even recognize. Maybe 5 years ago there was a trend to move back to Poland as the economy improved, but not so much now. Tragically for Poland, they have more young men dying in Ukraine than they can afford. That will come up later. Their smallish military will lose trained men, young men, that they will miss. Madness.
Politico is misinformed. Poland is not on its way to becoming a military superpower. If they want to defend themselves, then what they need most is trained reserves so as to outnumber an invader. If they do not have reserves that can be mobilized, then no amount of Western military hardware will save them. They do not want to impose a requirement that their young people show up for training and to be on call if the flag flies. It is unpopular. But hardware cannot substitute for a willingness to field sufficient numbers of brave men with rifles and antitank missiles.
This, by the way, can be taken as an indicator of who we can and cannot help. People who cannot be bothered to take effective measures for their own defense are beyond our help. If they cannot or will not field sufficient trained reserves, then an invader is apt to roll over them before help can arrive. If your plan is for the US cavalry to ride to your rescue, then you must be able to hold the bad guys off until the cavalry can get there.
I might go into Taiwan's refusal to field well trained reserves, but it's been a long day and the bourbon is kicking in.
While I agree with most of what you wrote, let's be clear: We're not in this to help anyone but ourselves. Or, more precisely, we're in this because Neocons think it will advance their interests by bending the American nation to their purposes. If the Poles or anyone else thinks we're in this to help them, well, that's their problem. We're just using them.
I agree that we should put our own national interest first and foremost. I am refuting a particular point that gets made frequently in these sorts of discussions. It is often claimed that there is a moral obligation to help country x against the aggression of country y. Whatever we may think of the relative merits of the claims of countries x and y, there is no moral imperative to do what cannot be done.
Liddell Hart's first dictum was "Adjust your ends to your means. A sense of what is possible is the beginning of military wisdom" Whatever arguments of sympathy or morality anyone may make, we cannot help those who will not take basic steps to help themselves, and much evil could be avoided if people would learn this.
The problem for the poles is that, when you're at the periphery of the game and you trust the U.S., you trust a guy on the level, Donald Trump, but you also trust and are at the mercy of hack playthings of the neocons like lying Obama and doorstop Biden.
I know what you mean, Texas. Our family comes first. However, what happens when some of the entities you don't care about suddenly start caring about you? I'm surrounded by people who don't care about the WEF. Unfortunately, the WEF cares very much about them. And not in a nice way. I'm a firm believer in getting as far from the madding crowd as possible, but sometimes you have no choice but to get involved and fight.
I agree with you both, other than feeling just a slight bit sorry for the average Ukrainian, they did allowed their crooked overlords (with the help of US/UK demons) to lead them down this path of destruction.
Much delusional thinking within NATO and with the Polish leadership, such as it is.
Poland has a way of poofing itself in and out of history and may well do so again, along the lines The Ukraine has taken, if the bought off Polish leadership is used as is the Kyiv leadership.
For in this present US-NATO-UK Proxy War, God Favours Russia . . . .https://les7eb.substack.com/p/ukraine-long-proxy-war-vi-god-favours
Unless national sentiment has changed since escaping the yoke of communism, I don’t think blind faith in the UK or US is a real thing. I grew up near a Polish community near Detroit, many Poles of the WWII era had a absolute hatred of FDR (for selling them out to the Soviets) and a wary trust in the US acting in their best interest.
I’m also sure doing without still is embedded in their collective psyche from those years and never letting communism take them again is an overwhelming concern.
I had no idea that Poland was not in the Euro currency! As bad as their economy is that may - may - save them some initial pain down the road.
On the point of them hoping to militarise: one major effect of the EU was the drain of humanity it caused from the poorer countries to the wealthier ones. Literally all of the Balkan states; the eastern and central European states and Italy had a demographic fall as their young and fit left for better opportunities westward. When Brexit happened the Remoaners were hysterically screaming that all the Eastern Europeans (majority Polish and Romanian) would leave - something like 3 million of them elected to apply for permanent UK residence. Poland or any other Balkan state can never militarise to any significant degree because the EU (France Germany and UK) stole their people.
A generation ago in Chicago I could assume that any time I heard a Slavic language being spoken, say in the subway, if I'd get close enough it would turn out to be Polish. Now it could be anything. Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbo-Croat or something else I wouldn't even recognize. Maybe 5 years ago there was a trend to move back to Poland as the economy improved, but not so much now. Tragically for Poland, they have more young men dying in Ukraine than they can afford. That will come up later. Their smallish military will lose trained men, young men, that they will miss. Madness.
Politico is misinformed. Poland is not on its way to becoming a military superpower. If they want to defend themselves, then what they need most is trained reserves so as to outnumber an invader. If they do not have reserves that can be mobilized, then no amount of Western military hardware will save them. They do not want to impose a requirement that their young people show up for training and to be on call if the flag flies. It is unpopular. But hardware cannot substitute for a willingness to field sufficient numbers of brave men with rifles and antitank missiles.
This, by the way, can be taken as an indicator of who we can and cannot help. People who cannot be bothered to take effective measures for their own defense are beyond our help. If they cannot or will not field sufficient trained reserves, then an invader is apt to roll over them before help can arrive. If your plan is for the US cavalry to ride to your rescue, then you must be able to hold the bad guys off until the cavalry can get there.
I might go into Taiwan's refusal to field well trained reserves, but it's been a long day and the bourbon is kicking in.
"an indicator of who we can and cannot help"
While I agree with most of what you wrote, let's be clear: We're not in this to help anyone but ourselves. Or, more precisely, we're in this because Neocons think it will advance their interests by bending the American nation to their purposes. If the Poles or anyone else thinks we're in this to help them, well, that's their problem. We're just using them.
I agree that we should put our own national interest first and foremost. I am refuting a particular point that gets made frequently in these sorts of discussions. It is often claimed that there is a moral obligation to help country x against the aggression of country y. Whatever we may think of the relative merits of the claims of countries x and y, there is no moral imperative to do what cannot be done.
Liddell Hart's first dictum was "Adjust your ends to your means. A sense of what is possible is the beginning of military wisdom" Whatever arguments of sympathy or morality anyone may make, we cannot help those who will not take basic steps to help themselves, and much evil could be avoided if people would learn this.
The problem for the poles is that, when you're at the periphery of the game and you trust the U.S., you trust a guy on the level, Donald Trump, but you also trust and are at the mercy of hack playthings of the neocons like lying Obama and doorstop Biden.
Seems like just one more aspect of the progressive Euro self deconstruction.
Wow on the Polish economic news.
Sounds like it’s a race to see who’s economy collapses last.
Unsolicited advice to TPTB in Poland; DO NOT BUY ANY F-35's !!!
I know what you mean, Texas. Our family comes first. However, what happens when some of the entities you don't care about suddenly start caring about you? I'm surrounded by people who don't care about the WEF. Unfortunately, the WEF cares very much about them. And not in a nice way. I'm a firm believer in getting as far from the madding crowd as possible, but sometimes you have no choice but to get involved and fight.
I agree with you both, other than feeling just a slight bit sorry for the average Ukrainian, they did allowed their crooked overlords (with the help of US/UK demons) to lead them down this path of destruction.