This is uncalled for. My recollection of the cold war strategy (which I admit is now rather hazy) was that the NATO forces, mostly European, were positioned to resist the first wave of any Warsaw block action, knowing that they would inevitably be overwhelmed. The idea was to buy time for the US to respond. I remember being in London during the late seventies and listening to a radio interview with a UK military analyst who explained that, in the event of war, as soon as the Russian fleet moved out of its Northern ports the British would move to intercept them. He predicted that the British navy would be wiped out in four days; but it would be enough for the US to organize its response. In other words the Europeans (at least the Brits) were seriously planning a suicide strategy and they were serious enough and disciplined enough to have done it. They deserve respect, not scorn.