Posted on 04/20/2015 9:53:22 AM PDT by McGruff
U.S. support is "crucial" to Latvia amid concerns over an increase in Russian troop activity near its borders, the Baltic nation's defense chief said Monday.
Lt. Gen Raimonds Graube said that "Russian communication warfare and Russian troop build ups" are continuing along the Russia-Latvia border.
"The people of Latvia are scared because of this activity," he said after a meeting with the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Increased Russian military activity in the Baltic region in recent months has prompted a display of U.S. and NATO deterrence capabilities against any Russian threat to Europe's borders. But Graube stressed that the build-up has been not just over the last month but over the past two years, saying that his forces have identified Russian troops as close as 16 miles away from Latvia's borders.
Graube's remarks came as Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier launched an initiative to train journalists from Baltic countries to "increase the media diversity also for Russian speaking television."
Steinmeier said that the initiative's goal isn't to "react to propaganda with counter-propaganda" but instead with "free and independent journalism."
About 3,000 U.S. soldiers from the Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division will deploy to Eastern Europe beginning next week, to conduct training exercises with forces from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Pentagon said Monday.
The deployment is part of an ongoing U.S. military troop rotation aimed at bolstering support for NATO allies who are worried about escalating aggression by Russia.- March 09 2015
Battle lines are being drawn.
If Latvia thinks they will be defended by the USA, they are crazy.
If we let the Russians take the Baltic states, we are totally without honor. I say this as a mom with a son in the military.
3,000 troops.
Russia has stated that they will use nukes to secure “former areas” if pushed by NATO. The EU doesn’t really want to be occupied by Russia again.
We can’t do this alone guys. We may have to fight them, but we can’t right now.
We are totally, completely, unutterably without honor.
Sorry to break the news.
Latvia, the port and railhead we use for land supply to Afghanistan. Think it through.
You don’t have to worry about Ukraine. Russia is just playing a game of chicken with us because of our meddling in Georgia.
Of course Latvia will be defended by NATO, they are a part of our NATO defensive alliance against Russia.
Interesting, we better be doing both.
NATO/America are perfectly capable of wiping out any Russian invasion, and Putin knows that.
If we can get the troops and supplies there, probably.
But Germany and the EU don’t want to play round three with Russia right now. They are not exactly excited about things. If we can’t use EU bases and logistics, there isn’t much we can do.
""According to the International Institute of Strategic Studies’ "Military Balance" publication — a widely-used and well-respected unclassified compendium of information about the world’s armed forces — in 1989, just before the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union deployed a total of 64 divisions in what was then known as its “Western Theater of Military Operations.” These are the Russian forces that would have been hurled at NATO in an attack on Western Europe. They would have been reinforced by another 700,000 troops from the USSR’s three frontline Warsaw Pact allies, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. In all, more than 100 divisions would have been available for a drive into West Germany and beyond. The six countries committed to defending NATO’s front lines — West Germany, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands — meanwhile deployed only 21 or so divisions in Germany. ""
Consider the situation today. East Germany no longer exists, while Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and every one of Russia’s other erstwhile Warsaw Pact partners are now members of NATO. So are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which in 1989 were parts of the Soviet Union itself. In 1989, the Red Army had almost a half-million troops and 27 maneuver divisions (plus enormous quantities of artillery and other units) on the territory of its three main allies. Today, it has a total of seven divisions in its entire Western Military District, all of which are based on its own territory. Indeed, the entire Russian army today boasts about 25 divisions, fewer than it had forward deployed in its Eastern European allies during the waning days of the Cold War.
Today, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany alone field more divisions than Russia has in its Western Military District. These countries are backstopped by the rest of NATO, including, of course, the United States.
While we are in a war with them, think they’ll still let us move cargo through their rail routes? That’d be nice.
If Latvia thinks the USA under Obama will lift a finger to help they—they have been sipping too much of the Vodka they make. IF—and thats a Big If—Putin Marches on them they will be finished in 48 hours—Putin is too busy with the Ukraine —its proving to be a bit harder to seize the western part of the nation—than he planned.
See post 10.
Of course NATO will defend Latvia.
And that is another great point.
Russia is using mercs the same way we do. For plausible deniability. However, the Russian public is starting to wonder how many of their sons and fathers aren’t coming back. Not to mention they are not getting paid.
The U.S is still part of NATO and has not withdrawn from it, the US will fight with NATO if it comes to it, Latvia is NATO.
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