Posted on 06/14/2015 4:53:22 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
The United States is reportedly planning to store heavy military equipment in Eastern Europe to reassure allies made uneasy by Russias actions in Ukraine.
Citing U.S. and allied officials, The New York Times reported on June 13 that the United States is "poised to station battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries."
The U.S. newspaper says the proposal, if approved, would represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
The paper also describes the possible Pentagon move as "the most prominent of a series of moves" by Washington and NATO "to deter possible Russian aggression in Europe."
Meanwhile, the Polish Defense Ministry said on June 14 that the country is in talks with the United States about stationing U.S. Army equipment warehouses in Poland.
The Polish ministry also said on Twitter that Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak received assurances during a visit to Washington last month that a decision on stationing the warehouses would be taken soon.
Over the past year, relations between Moscow and the West have dropped to their lowest point since the Cold War following Russia's mostly unrecognized annexation of the Crimea Peninsula in March 2014 and Moscows alleged involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv, NATO, and Western governments accuse Russia of backing the pro-Moscow separatists in Ukraines east with weapons, personnel, and training in an effort to undermine Kyivs pro-Western government.
The Kremlin denies the charge, claiming Russias military is not fighting in the conflict despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
Fighting between pro-government forces and rebels has killed more than 6,400 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
Commenting on The New York Times report, a senior U.S. official told the Reuters news agency that the United States will preposition significant equipment," but declined to comment on the details of the report.
The so-called "prepositioned stocks" of equipment would be minor compared to what Russia could mobilize against its neighbors but could send a signal of U.S. commitment.
The Times quotes a former supreme allied commander of NATO, retired Admiral James G. Stavridis, as calling it "a very meaningful shift in policy" in an effort to reassure "jittery allies."
Asked about the article, a Pentagon spokesman said, "Over the last few years, the United States military has increased the prepositioning of equipment for training and exercises with our NATO allies and partners."
"The U.S. military continues to review the best location to store these materials in consultation with our allies," Colonel Steve Warren also said in a statement.
He added that no decision had been made about if or when to move this equipment."
The Times says the Pentagon proposal still needs approval from U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and President Barack Obama.
NATO defense ministers are expected to gather in Brussels later this month.
The New York Times says the proposal as it stands suggests that "a company's worth of equipment -- enough for about 150 soldiers -- would be stored in each of the three Baltic nations: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Enough for a company or possibly a battalion -- about 750 soldiers -- would be located in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and possibly Hungary."
Because leaving thousands of combat vehicles and tanks in Iraq worked so well.......
Maybe Europe should defend itself.
Maybe those allies should think about a real army themselves.
Before you count on NATO read this:
As NATO faces a resurgent Russian military, a substantial number of Europeans do not believe that their own countries should rush to defend an ally against attack, according to a comprehensive survey to be made public on Wednesday.
NATOs charter states that an attack against one member should be considered an attack against all, but the survey points to the challenges the alliance faces in trying to maintain its cohesion in the face of an increasingly aggressive Russia.
At least half of Germans, French and Italians say their country should not use military force to defend a NATO ally if attacked by Russia, the Pew Research Center said it found in its survey, which is based on interviews in 10 nations.
But wait. That could lead to Russian global socialists killing European global socialists. And European global socialists killed Russian global socialists.
That could be as bad as Sunni Muslims killing Shiite Muslims. And Shiite Muslims killing Sunni Muslims.
Okay, I’m in.
what good is weaponry if the Emperor has no backbone?
Right. The same thing could happen to the heavy weapons.
Just kidding...
5.56mm
The NATO accord seems very one sided anyway. Perhaps it should be retired.
Not only is there no will to defend the weakest of the members, the question for us is whether anyone would come to our aid militarily with the same commitment we would.
I think not.
So we are prepositioning the very first equipment to be targeted?
This is happening as we also need to increase our commitment to Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and South Korea to defend those countries; as well as the Middle East.
I suspect that if something does happen, that it will kick off a domino effect and all the hot spots listed will go hot (Asia pacific, Korea, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Latin America).
Or the troops to actually man all that metal. The heavy divisions of the 1980s have all been broken up and disbanded, in favor of much lighter “combat brigades.”
This would create a great investment opportunity in Russian based companies!
Well , not in an ideal world.
Ideally they would reduce each other to the stone age and leave us alone.
Not a good investment opportunity.
“”Meanwhile, the Polish Defense Ministry said on June 14 that the country is in talks with the United States about stationing U.S. Army equipment warehouses in Poland.””
But obozo scrapped/dismantled the missle defense system in Poland to placate Russia. Can’t trust or believe one cotton pickin’ thing this administration tells us.
Even rock cutters need tools and grain.... The fallout would probably kill most of us as well.
When I saw your comment’s link, I though mine was going to be the same, but this is follow up four days later. Don’t know if it is the same one SC posted further down.
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