With a serving of 'sisu,' Finland add weight to NATO's clash with Russia WashTimesOpEd
It was awe-inspiring to be among those brave Finns who had tenaciously defended their homeland against overwhelming odds when the Soviet Union invaded in 1939. Serving under legendary Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Finnish soldiers used their martial skill and superior knowledge of the terrain to hold their massively larger neighbor at bay, while the Red Army — then as now — suffered from poor logistics, misguided tactics and inferior leadership.
That is until Russia launched its unprovoked, unjust war against Ukraine in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army has abducted Ukrainian children; deliberately targeted civilians in their apartments, schools and maternity wards; and forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homeland, which the Kremlin’s crimes against humanity have transformed into a perilous war zone.
Finland in NATO will matter: Russia now faces a land border with NATO member states that is twice as long as it was before. Finland has a highly modern army, navy and air force backed by F-35 fighter jets; massive stocks of artillery with howitzers, mortars, anti-aircraft missiles and rocket launchers; surveillance radars; and a reserve force of almost 300,000 soldiers and an additional 900,000 citizens who can be mobilized.
But it’s now clear he has been responsible for the most catastrophic intelligence failure since Hitler’s ill-fated invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Mr. Putin badly misread Ukraine’s will and capacity to fight, as well as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ability to mobilize his nation and the West in defense of freedom, liberty and democracy. Mr.
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