“There is a magic word that we use in NATO. It’s ‘deterrence’. These purchases are so that we don’t have to fight,” says Polish President Andrzej Duda in an interview with ‘Gazeta Polska’ about the purchases of modern armaments, including 500 HIMARS. The entire interview will be published this Wednesday in the weekly ‘Gazeta Polska’.
In an interview with Katarzyna Gójska, Tomasz Sakiewicz and Piotr Lisiewicz, President Andrzej Duda was asked about the sense of buying 500 HIMARS, as well as Abrams and K2 tanks, and F35 aircraft.
“There is a magic word that we use in NATO. It is deterrence. These purchases are so that we don’t have to fight. This is the paradox. You spend billions on armaments so that you don’t have to fight,” Andrzej Duda told the journalists.
To the remark that some retired military officers argue that the army in peacetime should be compact and that a 300,000-strong army is “madness”, the president countered:
“If you live in a building with a notorious thief and burglar living in it at the same time, you have two choices. Either you have nothing and live in constant misery, or you fit strong locks, buy a shotgun and sleep safe and sound. We buy strong locks and a shotgun, hoping that it will not be worthwhile for anyone to attack us.”
The entire interview with President Andrzej Duda will be published next Wednesday in the weekly Gazeta Polska.