re: #236 Wendell Zurkowitz ((slave to the waffle light))

It was created to counter a threat from the USSR and its satellite states. That political construct no longer exists.

Russia is still an issue, but I do not think that it is necessary to buck NATO right up to its borders.

In the span of a decade, Russia has annexed large portions of two of its former satellite nations, has made open and hostile threats towards both if they should continue to become further aligned with the West, and is aggressively pursuing modernization programs for its armed forces.

The construct may have vanished, but the threat posed is still real.