US Army to Send 100 Tanks to Eastern Europe to ‘Counter Russia’

US Commander Concedes Russia Unlikely to Attack Anyone

Remember how for a couple of months during the Ukrainian protester regime change all anyone in NATO wanted to talk about was a Russian invasion of Europe? NATO sure does.

US Army Europe commander Lt. Gen. Frederick Hodges today announced a plan to send another 100 US tanks and Bradley AFVs to Lithuania, nominally to counter “Russian aggression.”

Even Lt. Gen. Hodges conceded that he doesn’t expect Russia to attack Lithuania, or anyone else for that matter, but that not sending tanks to counter the invasion that’s not coming would “create ambiguity” among NATO allies.

Several NATO nations in Eastern Europe have been trying to use the Ukraine situation as an excuse to get military deployments from Western Europe and the US, primarily for the financial gain. The move announced by Hodges suggests the US is still very much on board for wasteful deployments, if only for appearance’s sake.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.