The Baltic states need to start thinking a little more like Israel.
A new report from the Rand Corporation, funded by the U.S. Army, has published evidence for a truth long known: A Russian invasion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would quickly succeed — within 60 hours, to be precise. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be powerless to do anything about it, unless it was willing to go to war with Russia to retake the lost territory, with all the attendant potential for escalation.
The Rand report describes the problems that faced the NATO team in its war games. The Baltic countries could be easily surrounded. They have no serious air defenses, no tanks and no air force. Even man for man, their combat units are so lightly armed compared to those of the superpower next door that they would be crushed. It would all be over by the time NATO could bring a meaningful force to the battlefield.
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