[shahadi]

The article (bild.de) assets the recent Russian exercises not as a grab for the Baltic states, but rather as a strike against NATO. Furthermore, the attacks on Germany, Poland, Norway, and the other countries mentioned are bombing targets and missile strikes, nothing about seizing territory. Troubling.

If Putin wanted the Baltics, then taking control of harbors, airfields, etc would not require striking other NATO countries. I dare say, strikes on Poland or Sweden and Norway would plunge into WWW3. While taking control of methods of ingress (Baltics) would suffice with a lower chance of a military NATO response.

BTW, has anyone read of the number of heavy armor formations in the Baltics, and has America stationed an additional carrier strike group in the Baltic sea?

Great read and excellent post.