Will We Get Dragged Into A Bloody Conflict?

[youngmafbog]

http://news.sky.com/story/1494518/poland-rearms-as-fears-of-russian-attack-grow

Will this end up as a repeat of the autumn of 1939?

As Poland is in the EU, will the EU have to fight off the Reds?

Will Germany be allowed to rearm to do this, or would German forces in Poland be off limits?

[sandyRoe]

If Poland is a member of NATO then any aggression from Russia would be very serious. It could herald the start of WW3.

[atalanta]

So far, Putin has not threatened any NATO country. But you know what they say about absolute power. If he thinks it will enhance his standing and his power in Russia, AND if he thinks he can win, he might have a go at the Baltic countries before he goes for a big state like Poland. If he does threaten a NATO country, all NATO countries are bound to come to that country's defence.

[-Talbot-]

Is there any men left in Poland to put up a fight?

[youngmafbog]

Talbot, the Poles are very brave fighters. I think you are thinking of the French or Italians.

It all seems very worrying to me. Putin is a liability.

[retrocop]

youngmafbog
The Russian bear has always worried me from childhood. I still remember the Public Office warnings about what to do when the bomb drops. Chilling.
I sometimes wish that General George Pattons's suggestion was taken on board.Having beaten Germany he suggested quickly re-arming the Germans and we all invade Russia as they would be the next world major threat. He wasn't wrong there.
I think Talbot was suggesting that most of the Polish men were working elsewhere and was not casting doubt on their proven valour. :-)

[youngmafbog]

Oh, sorry Talbot.

[-Talbot-]

I asked a similar question a few months back, the general consensus of opinion was that there was nothing to worry about.

[ichkeria]

I'm the biggest critic of Russia there is, but that country is not going to invade Poland in a month of Sundays. For a start, the two countries don't even share a border, apart from the Kaliningrad exclave.
That's not to say that Poles are not understandably worried.
Putin's tactic is most likely to stir up trouble in neighbouring countries for two reasons
1 - to bolster his esteem and support at home, being paranoid of going the way of his partner in crime Yanukovich in Ukraine
2 - where he thinks he can stop what he perceives as the "encroachment" of the West on his "patch" tho that is to a degree for the same reason as (1).
Poland to all intents and purposes has "flown the coop": a member of native, and increasingly prosperous. He doesn't have much leverage over it. In contrast to the Moldovans and to an extent the Ukrainians. But he's plainly over-reached himself in Donbass, his original idea of a "Novorossiya" incorporating the south and east of the whole country having had to be shelved.
Any military aggression anywhere is most likely to be in the form of the sort of sheaky "little green men" approach used in Ukraine, or indeed in any country, such as Georgia, Armenia or Moldova, where the presence of so-called "peace keepers" can be used as a pretext effectively for annexation. In that respect Latvia is probably the country with most to fear, but if he can't even do it properly in Donbass there's little prospect of it working there.
To be prepared and properly forearmed is wise though.

[ichkeria]

member of NATO (sigh)