"If You Don't See Russia As A Threat, You've Got Your Head In The Sand"
28 June 2018, 12:58
A former US Army chief has warned that Russia is one of the biggest threats to the west.
When Clive Bull suggested that Britain didn't really have any immediate enemies, General Jack Keane said: "Let me tell you, you have your head in the sand, my friend, as do the British people if that's what you believe.
"Our four Chiefs of Staff of our four services provided testimony last year. Based on scenarios they have run against the Russians in the Baltics, they say the the US and our western allies are at high risk to win a conventional war against Russia in Eastern Europe.
"We haven't made a statement like that in 40 years.
"What they are saying to us is that if we fought tomorrow, we would be at serious risk of losing."
General Keane says that Russia are keen to dismantle NATO and that could put a lot of countries at risk.
He added: "With NATO, if one is attacked, all 20 respond.
"They clearly want to break the Trans-Atlantic Alliance. They believe it's weakened and that's because many of the Europeans have lost their political and moral will to defend other nations as part of NATO.
"We discuss this in our country, we have doubts whether Angela Merkel would come to the assistance of the Baltic nations if Russia were to invade them.
"If we have questions about that here, then certainly the Russians are questioning that.
"We don't want a war. We want to have sufficient capabilities to deter war."
