NATO’s Most Vulnerable Spot: Why the Fear of a ‘Russian Threat’ is Openly Stupid – Sputnik International

The reason behindthe NATO hysteria is that the drills are set totake place not far fromthe so-called "Suwalki Corridor" or "Suwalki Gap", which NATO and the Pentagon consider "the most vulnerable spot" ofthe Alliance and which they think Russia will seize first inits war withthe block.

The so-called "Suwalki Corridor" or "Suwalki Gap"

The Suwalki Gap, or SK Gap inAmerican military parlance, named afternearby Polish town ofSuwaki, is a 64 mile (102 km) land corridor betweenPoland and Lithuania, which is also wedged betweenRussian ally Belarus and the Russian exclave ofKaliningrad. This particular fact has turned this stretch ofland intoa core concern ofall the NATO member states.

The NATO commanders consider that "should Vladimir Putin decide toinvade, the corridor would be perfect foradvancing Russian tanks" ina scenario where Russia approaches both fromKaliningrad and Belarus, seizing the corridor and completely cutting offthe Baltic States.

"Military officers worry that inthe event ofa conflict withMoscow, the Russian military could use its forces inKaliningrad, home tonumerous military bases and bristling withadvanced missiles, toeffectively cut offthe Suwalki Gap and sever the Baltic states fromthe rest ofthe alliance, they said," The Wall Street Journal reported onthe issue.

"Russia could take overthe Baltic states faster thanwe would be able todefend them," the commander ofUS ground forces inEurope, General Ben Hodges, admitted earlier inthe year.

AFP 2017/ ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

"It would not be necessary forRussian forces tocomprehensively occupy the Sulwalki Gap area. Rather, even a thin and discontinuous line ofRussian forces strung outalong the Gap would present a barrier tothe land reinforcement ofthe Baltics, unless NATO forces were prepared toforce a passage and escalate the crisis," other US media speculated onthe issue.

Commenting onthe joint Russia-Belarus military drills, called West 2017, which are scheduled forSeptember 14-20, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite added fuel tothe fire bystating the exercise "demonstrates the preparation ofBelarus and Russia towage war withthe West."

Even Ukraine which has no apparent relation tothe territory, has recently tried tocapitalize onthe issue. The country's Secretary ofthe National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov recently said that "the objective ofthe Russian military exercise is tocheck the readiness oftroops toconduct large-scale operations withstrict time restrictions ontheir preparation. During the exercises, Russia is also planning towork outa plan tocreate a corridor toKaliningrad, which inreality is impossible withoutengaging Lithuania and Poland militarily."

Sputnik/ Grigoriy Sisoev

In his analytical article foronline newspaper Vzglyad, Russian political analyst Yevgeny Krutikov explains why all these fears are "openly stupid."

The "West" (Zapad) military drills, he notes, are held ona regular basis, once every two years inrotation onboth territories ofthe Union State ofRussia and Belarus.

"There is nothing extraordinary aboutthem buteach time some western neighbor gets demonstratively scared," he writes, adding that last time it was Poland which "had an episode," now it's Lithuania's turn.

For the first time inhistory, he says, Belarus has invited NATO observers tomonitor the drills, which has caused a certain "voyeuristic thrill."

Mainstream media interpreted it asan attempt bythe Belorussian president Lukashenko to "make assurances" against "Russian invasion."

AFP 2017/ Armin Weigel / dpa

Commenting onthe Suwalki Gap area, the political analyst says that the vast majority ofthe terrain consists ofwild woods, lakes and swamps. It is the most deserted area ofPoland withundeveloped infrastructure and neglected Polish-Lithuanian settlements. The Wigry Polish National Park is also located inthe area and is often shown onthe English language National Geographic, which contains bison, wild boars and deer.

There are no roads, especially direct routes fromBelarus toKaliningrad.

"It does not even cross anyone's mind that tanks cant pass throughthe Suwalki woods. It is easier, faster and more reliable totake Warsaw if we think interms offronts and armies, asthey do inthe Pentagon inthe 21st century. Or we could drive our Armata fromthe Belorussian territory throughthe Lithuanian checkpoint ofMedininkai further tothe capital Vilnius, central Lithuanian city ofKaiiadorys, then Kaunas and upto Marijampol onthe border withRussias Kaliningrad oblast. This route will be a lot more preferable, withoutany need tocross the Neman river," Krutikov suggests.

The current mindset inNATO and the Pentagon is pitiful, he suggests.

Russias Defense Ministry has invited and will continue toinvite reporters tocover Russian military drills, so the country has no need foroutside advice, Russian Defense Ministrys Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov responded onSaturday.

"It is highly improbable tofind either a motivated journalist or a media outlet inRussia that the Defense Ministry has not invited tocover its military exercises overthe last five years," Konashenkov said ina comment.

"General Hodges has never dreamt ofthe level oftransparency that the media has been given tocover military operations ofthe Russian air force and navy inSyria. Otherwise, major US channels would not have broadcast by mistake the Russian Defense Ministrys video footage taken inSyria asillustrations ofthe US Air Forces war onterror inthe Middle East."

Since the Russian Aerospace Force started carrying outstrikes inSyria, the Defense Ministry has organized more thanten press tours forforeign journalists, when they were able tocommunicate withlocal civilians and servicemen.

"Instead ofurging us tobe transparent, General Hodges should recall whether Russian journalists have ever been invited tocover the US Armys exercises inEurope," he concluded.

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NATO's Most Vulnerable Spot: Why the Fear of a 'Russian Threat' is Openly Stupid - Sputnik International