It's a shame. Our defense planners need to be prosecuted and
jailed for years for the grand theft of our wealth. Vaitkus is right.
Another 10 billion euros you will no longer extort from us.
"Journalist,
head of the Strong Together organization, Edmundas Jakilaitis, for the first
time publicly presented a study of Lithuania's defensive power. The study was
conducted by the Washington-based New Generation Warfare Center, which,
together with Lithuanian military experts, simulated two scenarios of a
military conflict - what awaits if Russia in 2027 goes against Lithuania. The study reviewed the first
10 days of the military conflict, after which Lithuania should defend itself
not alone, but together with NATO allies.
Lithuania was
successful in the second simulation scenario, during which almost no state
territory was lost, and the losses suffered by the enemy significantly exceeded
the losses of Lithuania and its allies. "Over the next four years, by
allocating an additional 10 billion euros for defense, Lithuania can
effectively resist the attack of the armed forces of the Russian Federation for
10 days. During those 10 days, Lithuania would essentially lose its territory,
and there would be no real threat to the existence of the state. Such a 10-day
period is necessary so that NATO allies can make decisions, send their allies
and help the attacked Lithuania", said E. Jakilaitis at the Lithuanian
Business Forum on Thursday.
"After six days,
the reinforced forces of the Lithuanian army stopped four Russian armies, whose
capabilities have been exhausted and which would need another echelon to return
to the offensive, which they do not have. Key systems included Himars, Apache
helicopters, artillery, mechanized forces, tanks and anti-tank capabilities.
Expenditure on munitions, in addition to those calculated later, is 4.5
billion. dollars. The cost of all technological additions is 10 billion. US
dollars," he calculated.
Minister of National
Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas welcomed this investigation and said that it
broadcasts one important message to all of Lithuania - under certain
conditions, the state is capable of defending itself against an enemy attack.
"The essential point of this simulation, of this study, is that we as a
state, under certain assumptions and serious solutions, can defend ourselves
against potential enemies. Of course, our defense planning is related to the
entire collective defense of NATO. (...) But regardless of that, a
self-respecting state must project various scenarios in order to fight on its
own", emphasized L. Kasčiūnas. This is obvious, because people must see
and understand that Lithuania is defensible and everything is largely in our
hands. This is a form of pressure on political leaders to respond to important
information from the world's best experts.
There is only one
solution - the borrower E. Jakilaitis emphasized that this 10 bln. euros the issue of
additional funds is equal to approximately 20 percent. of Lithuania's gross
domestic product (GDP).
Businessman and
signatory of the Act of Independence, Jonas Tamulis, assured that Lithuania
must borrow and significantly invest in its defense power already now. "We
need a solution within 3-5 years, that's about the time we have. In other
words, we cannot invest in defense only 4% for the next 20 years and have the
same result - you need now, and the answer to how to make a decision now is
almost the same.
You need to borrow
very seriously - those slightly increased taxes and other steps are in principle
also suitable, only I would combine them both at the same time", explained
J. Tamulis.
The scenarios were
formed taking into account the current military investments of Lithuania, the
arrival of the German brigade in Lithuania and other factors. In the first
scenario, Lithuania had developed the military capabilities it is developing
now, including the German brigade. In the second scenario, Lithuania invested
an additional 10 billion. euros in a period of 4 years to the development of
defense capabilities. During the simulations that lasted for several days, Ben
Hodges, the commander of the NATO ground forces in Europe, who was on the side
of Lithuania, together with him were the US helicopter aviation and artillery
ground colonels. The entire simulation was observed by representatives of the
Presidency of the Republic of Lithuania and the Defense Staff. The forces of
the Russian Federation side were led by the expert of the "New generation
warfare" research center, Dr. Philip Petersen.
E. Jakilaitis: we
want people to understand - Lithuania is defensible and almost everything is in
our hands. He is a head of the "Strong Together" organization. E.
Jakilaitis emphasized during the presentation of the study of Lithuania's
defensive power - the country's residents must know that Lithuania can defend
itself by making appropriate decisions. He hopes that an
understanding public will help persuade politicians to take action. "We
hope that this information will reach the public first. This is obvious,
because people must see and understand that Lithuania is defensible and
everything is largely in our hands. This is a kind of pressure tool for
political leaders - to respond to important information from the world's best
experts", E. Jakilaitis told journalists on Thursday.
J. Tamulis, one of
the authors of the study, a signatory of the Act of Independence, assures that
the decision-makers understand how important the results of this study are.
According to him, the first politicians familiar with the study did not raise
the question "whether it is necessary" but "how to do it".
"I'm not in a bad mood about this. We first presented this project almost
a month ago. We gathered three people from each of the main parties, people
from the army, the ministry, the presidency, and there were even some members
of the press. The meeting was private and the information never leaked to the
public. This clearly shows that politicians understand what we are dealing with
and how important it is," said J. Tamulis.
"I didn't hear
any other questions in the discussion - the amount of money was discussed, what
are the best ways to get the funds." There were no other topics - the
decision-makers have an idea of where we are, what we are doing," he
added. Businessman and one of the authors of the study, Tomas Kučinskas,
singled out the role of the media in spreading the message to the public.
According to him, if the news about Lithuania's ability to defend itself
reaches the population, their fear of war will not be so strong. "It is
very important what the role of the media will be. (...) The media must convey
the message to the residents that we must do this and only then will we be calm
that nothing will happen to us in Lithuania," he said."
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą