SNP is no match for Putin’s military muscle
ONCE again we see Vladimir Putin flexing his military muscles (Mail) by unleashing sophisticated missiles and carrier-borne aircraft against Syrian targets. No wonder the Baltic states are nervous. And the SNP response? Create a fuss about the closure of museum-piece barracks here in Scotland while pressing for Trident to be moved from the Clyde. Presumably the naivety shown by MP Mhairi Black on benefits –‘let’s just trust everybody’ – extends to SNP defence policy. I. WILSON, Hamilton, Lanarkshire. IT looks as if the Russians sent their aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean to defy any no-fly zone imposed by the UN. That’s an ominous sign for the West, especially as President-elect Donald Trump seems keen on a more accommodating approach to Vladimir Putin. And although Britain is among the handful of Nato members to meet its commitments in terms of defence spending, we are about to strip the Royal Navy of Harpoon and Sea Skua missiles to save cash. These missiles are the Navy’s only weapons which are capable of taking on targets ‘over the horizon’ – crucial in modern naval warfare where shooting THE Nationalists are full of criticism for Donald Trump but they are closer than they like to pretend. The Donald has had a ‘beautiful note’ from Vladimir Putin – and we know that Alex Salmond is an admirer of ‘certain aspects’ of Putin’s re-establishment of Russian pride as seen in Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia and Syria.
STEWART MCLEAN, Aberdeen. first is vital. So we have a resurgent Russia on one side, a US President keen on disengaging on the other and all with a military of our own that looks increasingly like a paper tiger. F. DICkSON, Rosyth, Fife.