Originally Posted by
CincoDeMayo
I do agree that Europe needs to do the heavy lifting on regional situations like this. The one thing that differs from 1940 is Europe has the power to squeeze financially without needing to use combat.
Except they’ve proven time and again that they won’t and after 30 years of underfunding their own military now can’t.
Germany, France, the UK, and Italy ALL have a higher GDP than Russia. H€||, Canada has a higher GDP than Russia. But Europe isn’t INTERESTED in paying the freight for their own defense when they’ve been able to get Uncle Sugar to do it for them for the last 75 years.
A few decades ago, France got 80% of their electric power from nuclear energy. Germany was something like 40%. Finances be damned, they are now energy dependent on Russia and wouldn’t get through next winter without it. And there aren’t enough LPG tankers in existence to replace the pipeline. Think we can supply Europe with coal by airlift ala The Berlin Airlift?
They made the CHOICE to become dependent on Russian natural gas, just like they made the choice to let their militaries wither away after the USSR dissolved. And the Ukraine started it’s independence with 170 ICBMs and 1700 nukes that they sold. You think that Russia would be threatening them now if they’d even kept a half dozen nukes?
Eventually we need to let the rest of the world take responsibility for the their own actions.