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Spoiler alert: NATO’s forces would destroy “anything and everything.”
At the Warsaw Security Forum, NATO’s top commander delivered an unmistakable warning: If an adversary strikes, the backlash will be total.
Reporting on the speech, Reuters noted that U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich vowed allied forces would destroy “anything and everything” tied to an aggressive push.
The American commander stressed that the Western alliance remains strictly defensive, yet he left zero doubt about what happens if an adversary tests that resolve. He outlined a military concept dubbed the “theory of victory.”
Under this framework, allied forces would rapidly blunt an initial push and neutralize the enemy before any tactical goals could be met.
“If someone is foolish enough to attack us, we will fight,” Grynkewich told the audience.
The goal is simple. Allied troops will step in to “ensure any attack, against any ally, proves utterly futile.”
Striking back hard
That retaliation would not stop at the front line. Instead, allied forces plan to strike deep into an attacker’s logistical core. As the general explained, commanders intend to break the entire warfighting apparatus:
“This includes not just the attacking force itself, but anything and everything that supports, sustains, and controls that force.”
Although Grynkewich avoided naming Russia directly, observers quickly recognized the intended target. European governments have repeatedly accused Moscow of waging shadow warfare through sabotage, drone incursions, and cyberattacks.
Nuclear rhetoric has also escalated the standoff. On October 1, Vladimir Putin warned during a Valdai Discussion Club address that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons if NATO attempted to cut off its Kaliningrad exclave.
Allied members are already taking physical precautions along the frontier. Two weeks ago, the U.S. Defense Department announced the deployment of roughly 40 Marines to the Baltic Sea to protect critical undersea infrastructure alongside Finnish forces.
Kremlin: War would be “very short”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in September that Russia has no interest in attacking Western countries, but that Moscow would not hesitate to retaliate if attacked.
“But if Europe, which speaks regularly about preparing for war against Russia, attacks the Russian Federation, then this will be a completely different war, and it will be very short,” he said, according to The Independent.
