Showing the flag is an old game. Our leaders are playing it again. They are showing the various flags of NATO countries in an effort to bend the actions of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation into a less threatening path.
The centre of violence is in East Ukraine; the growing fears are in Poland, the Baltic republics and Romania. If the crisis in Ukraine is viewed logically, it should be obvious Putin has no intention of gobbling up other countries in Eastern Europe. What he is doing - what he needs to do - is to place obstacles in the way of Eastern European countries being seduced by the economic blandishments of Western Europe.
In East Ukraine, the intrusion of goods from the efficient industries of the European Economic Community would cost jobs, particularly among ethnic Russians. What must be even more distasteful to Putin is the possibility of Eastern European countries becoming enmeshed in trade agreements with the United States and Canada. No loyal Russian, be he a national hero or an unrepentant thug, can accept the diminishing of Russia within its own historic sphere of influence.
Among the powerless populations, there is no understanding of the effect of the non-military sanctions against Russia, or even what all of those sanctions are. Any citizen with even half a brain, however, should be able to see showing the flag must never become more than the threat that reassures those Eastern European countries who fear Putin's Russia. A useful reality check is to examine the lightly constructed cordon NATO is erecting around Ukraine and other states of Eastern Europe.
The United States is still the dominant military power in the world. It has an aircraft carrier group in European waters but no fighting ships in the Black Sea. It has sent 600 troops on joint military exercises in Eastern Europe. Britain and France have contributed six fighter jets to NATO build up. Canada has sent six soon-to-be-retired CF-18 fighter jets and 50 soldiers. NATO has a small-ship armada conducting exercises in the Baltic. No ship is as large as the Canadian frigate HMCS Regina, which has been diverted to the Mediterranean.
All in all, NATO's military deployments have been restrained. This is as it should be. The Balkan states are still a powder keg, as they were in the First World War. In a comparison of military assets, the well-equipped army of the Russian Federation is larger than the forces NATO can command. The Russian Navy, since it added Ukrainian ships, is now the largest in the world and is made up of well-designed surface ships and both nuclear-powered and conventional submarines. The ultimate weapons in its arsenals are nuclear missiles. The United States, Britain, France and Israel are also nuclear powers. Nothing can be allowed to happen that could unleash even one nuclear warhead.
Canada's armed forces are not large. There are only 16 fighting ships, 12 frigates and four destroyers. Most comparable vessels in the Russian fleet outclass them. The top line Russian jet fighters outclass our aging CF-18s. When our resources are so limited, it seems apparent our involvement in the NATO build up is a case of following the leader. Our leader is the United States. Our government chooses not to offend.
There are people in Canada - and I count myself among them - who believe Canada will do Washington's bidding in all things until Trans-Canada's Keystone pipeline eventually becomes a reality.
