NATO Commander-in-Chief changes his mind like his t-shirt

(BRUXELLES2) Unpreparedness at the summit seems to be the rule at NATO's command-in-chief if we are to believe the latest statements by General Phil Breedlove, commander of US forces in Europe and commander-in-chief of NATO (SACEUR for his friends). ).

Damn ! the "Reds" * don't come anymore

After having preached, for weeks, that the Russian forces were preparing to invade Ukraine, multiplying the most alarmist declarations about the ongoing maneuvers of the Russian army on the borders of Ukraine, detailing even to the number of tanks and field hospitals close to what was there... the SACEUR has just changed its mind. Did he suddenly discover that this massive concentration of troops, not very discreet moreover, was only a decoy? In any case, the new analysis of our commander in chief is that Russia will not have to put a single soldier on Ukrainian territory, the forces of destabilization already being at work.

Without crossing borders... the worst case scenario

« Today,  je don't think not that it is the solution most probable action ... I think now that poutine may be able to accomplish proven objectives: in the east of Ukraine without never (cross) the border with its forces “he declared during his visit to Ottawa (Canada) in front of an assembly of political and military personalities, as reported by the channel CBC. « Je think that (his) action most probable, that he's continue to to do this what he does : discredit the government, cause chaos and try to prepare the ground for a separatist movement. » Nothing could be easier then for Russia to forge solid military and economic ties with these movements, he states.

It's all very embarrassing.

Incidentally, General Breedlove also admits a little of his inability to respond to this type of threat. We feel like a regret of a good old confrontation, old-fashioned, a duel in good and due form, which his Russian alter egos somehow refuse him... « C'East the most annoying for NATO. Pbecause if the forces are not to at the border, I suppose that many will want try to come back quickly normal. (But) for my part, I do not want to believe which annex Crimea is "business as usual". 

A thorough analysis!

More than two months to discover what an average observer can see by reading the press, we are struck by an analysis full of finesse and speed. One more effort, general, and you will see that carrying out a maneuver from Transnistria to conquer the rest of Ukraine is perhaps a figment of the imagination (read: The Russian army massed in eastern Ukraine to go to Transnistria, uh...).

And if you continue the analysis - in a few weeks - maybe it will be time to realize that the military posturing, on the side of NATO, only served Putin's purposes in the end. , to gather around his person and his purpose, the patriotic fiber allowing him to quietly execute the trusteeship of Ukraine by giving his eco-strategic business... a political enemy. It might be too late then...

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(*) Red in NATO exercise terminology denotes hostile forces (read our Glossary always helpful...)