Pentagon Directing More Military Aid to Eastern Europe

The increase in money, training, and equipment is essentially a bribe for continuing to fight the lost war in Afghanistan

The Pentagon is directing more military aid to Eastern Europe, even as the U.S. has talked about reducing the empire’s resources in Europe to focus more on Asia.

The U.S. has been relying more on Eastern European NATO allies in its efforts in Afghanistan, and so is sending as much as $100 million, 33 percent more than last year, to countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania and Lithuania as a sort of bribe for continuing to fight in a lost war.

Shifting resources from Western Europe, the U.S. will send Hungary $13.3 million, an increase from $2.87 million last year. Poland will receive $14 million from $2.85 million, Romania increases to $14.3 million from $7.3 million and Lithuania will get $12.8 million, up from $5.7 million.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last week that the U.S. will cut the number of troops stationed in Europe, as it cuts $490 billion over the next decade, a negligible drop in the bucket which merely slows the rate of increase in defense spending.  The U.S. had almost 80,000 military personnel stationed in Europe as of December 2010.

Author: John Glaser

John Glaser writes for Antiwar.com.