Posted on 06/13/2015 12:46:05 PM PDT by drewh
In a significant move to deter possible Russian aggression in Europe, the Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, allied officials say.
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. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine have caused alarm and prompted new military planning in NATO capitals.
It would be the most prominent of a series of moves the United States and NATO have taken to bolster forces in the region and send a clear message of resolve to allies and to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, that the United States would defend the alliance’s members closest to the Russian frontier.
After the expansion of NATO to include the Baltic nations in 2004, the United States and its allies avoided the permanent stationing of equipment or troops in the east as they sought varying forms of partnership with Russia.
“This is a very meaningful shift in policy,” said James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO. “It provides a reasonable level of reassurance to jittery allies, although nothing is as good as troops stationed full-time on the ground, of course.”
The amount of equipment included in the planning is small compared with what Russia could bring to bear against the NATO nations on or near its borders, but it would serve as a credible sign of American commitment, acting as a deterrent the way that the Berlin Brigade did after the Berlin Wall crisis in 1961.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
See “Fulda Gap”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap , looks like the COLD WAR is BACK!
Back in the good old days we had that many troops just in the Fulda Gap.
It was acknowledged by all that they were just a speed bump.
*sigh*
I guess I best get right with God. LOL
President Cruz, President Walker, even President Fiorina would accept the proposal. President Obama? Holdest thou not thy breath.
A tripwire.
Future weapons stockpiles for ISIS when they turn toward Europe.
Without the U.S. heavy divisions, which have all been broken up and disbanded.
But first, the Pentagon must acknowledge LGBT pride. Yes, to tell the world how diversified and tolerant and PC our armed forces are!
But what the world hears is that the United States is no longer serious about defense - our own or anyone else’s.
The Pentagon and the White Mosque really are the laughingstock of the world. Truly despicable.
I think FUBAR also applies.
Can you imagine if Russia put such weaponry in Haiti or Mexico, for example?
Or Cuba? Oh, wait, we know how that went.
Too small & too far forward.
We’re already there.
You think that Mexico and Haiti asked to join a defensive military alliance against the United States?
Not that the rest of us have heard of.
It is interesting though that you see Russian and us as equally evil, you must have hated Reagan, with equal goals of world conquest and empire.
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.
NATO’s 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.
Well, I can understand why. The Russians could blow all of France, Germany, and Italy’s major cities sky high quicker than they could have time to react. At least in the United States, we have the generosity of an ocean on either side to cross over before the ordinance hits us.
Last I heard, the media thinks a Glock 19 pistol is “heavy weaponry”. So, I don’t know whether to believe any of this.
Gee, it seems another World War would be just the emergency Barry needs to stay in office.
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