Every NATO conference lately seems to center on ideas to escalate military deployments along the border with Russia. This time they’re really going for broke, as the “spearhead” force they started last year with 4,000 troops along the Russian border could get expanded to as many as 40,000 troops.
The “spearhead” force was initially meant to forestall a Russian invasion of Europe, something which US officials were constantly predicting was imminent. A year later and with the invasion still looking extremely unlikely, officials just keep doubling down at every opportunity.
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has headed to Europe this week to try to convince various European nations, notably Germany, to dramatically increase military spending so they can afford to send a bunch of excess troops to the Russian border. He will also commit US troops and equipment to the plan.
What all this US contribution will entail is unclear, but Carter has already said it will include air surveillance, airlift capabilities, and ground-based artillery forces, as well as a hefty number of ground troops. Carter is also talking up an escalation of sanctions against Russia.
Any chance that during this new cold war, the US will go broke?
That might be the only thing left that will stop the nutjob Carter and his neocon string pullers from incinerating the planet.
I'm pretty sure the US is already broke. Consider the panic if the Chinese decided to call in the IOU's they hold. They wouldn't, I know, but it might seriously shock the American people as to the amount the US actually owes a purported adversary.
I keep hoping that, at some point, European countries will grow tired of subordinating their interests to the interests of the U.S. Russia clearly has no interest in war. In fact, the only country with any apparent interest in war is the U.S. as long as proxies do the fighting.
Europe´s interest is the maintainance of the Helsinki Final Act, which the Soviets saw as the cornerstone of peace in Europe. Putin has violated it by grabbing Crimea without Ukraine´s consent (which consent was probably part of Nuland´s original scam) and arming and supplying the people fighting in the Donetsk sausage (whoever they really are), and by threatning military intervention if the Ukrainian government deals with those people. In practice, Putin has proved the Soviets right: there can be no lasting peace in Europe as long as countries keep trying to grab each other´s territory.
Why do you keep lying about that?
The Helsinki Act can't be "violated," because it is not a treaty with provisions which bind anyone or anything.
And even if it COULD be "violated," neither Russia nor Ukraine have ever been party to it.
Where along the Russian border? Anywhere? Or only in those places that are members of NATO – i.e. Poland and the Baltics?
40 000 troops might delay the Russians in Latvia and Lithuania but, should Putin 'go nuts', the real theatre of operations would be somewhat further south, in Ukraine.
Yes, but Ukraine is a salient. If Putin attacks, as with Hitler in 1940, he would first occupy Ukraine and the Baltic republics and only later be defeated and driven out. The "theatre" is actually all of Russia´s borders, with air attacks on the Arctic and Pacific coasts from North America, on the west of the country and the Black Sea coast from western and southern NATO members and attacks on the Caucasus from, say, Turkey or Georgia (which would probably love to give Putin a bloody nose!). I doubt if land forces would play a major role, other than to hold the border from Poland to Romania (or maybe even Moldova, which, like Georgia, would probably like to see Putin getting a thrashing).
Well let's examine the facts:
1. Uncle Sam sends troops to Ukraine
2. Evil Putin fails to invade
3. Obviously Step 1 worked, so do it some more.
Reminds me of the cock who believes the Sun comes up every day because of his cheery morning calls!
One of the great unanswered questions is why Putin hasn´t invaded. For whatever reason, he seems to be afraid to attack, even though staying where he is, with nothing but two white expensive elephants, is defeat. He may well fear that his rickety conscript army won´t fight.
Putin´s latest "foot in the mouth" comment is that NATO is pushing troops right up to his border. At least no one can accuse Putin of that! He´s already grabbed Crimea and is openly arming and supplying the Cossack mercenaries (aka Kosovo-style "rebels") is Sausagestan. As I keep saying, as long as Putin is stupid enough to keep falling into the trap, NATO will keep setting it for him.
As long as the IMF can coerce their vassal state clients and the ones soon to be (Ukraine) to keep consuming debt based on foreign aid/loans, then no, the war machine continues full throttle. Until this artificial demand stops, nothing changes. However, one could argue why this creep Carter is fomenting a crisis with Russia because the dollar is in serious trouble. The EU citizens in NATO should disobey any orders from this monster Carter. They started this mess and they intend to turn it into a war.
Ashton Carter is a sick mad man! Where do they find these vile little twisted men?
President Obama appointed Mr. Carter his Secretary of Defense.
As Secretary of Defense Mr. Carter carries out the orders of the President of the United States.
Elected by the American people, President Obama acts under the authority of the United States Constitution.
Since you seem to have a recycled Cold War professional burdening this thread with his brainwashing, I take the liberty of repeating a comment I made on the previous day's Ukraine thread:
The shelling of Gorlovka and Donetsk cities has never actually ceased during this 'truce'. It kills on average some 20 to 40 people a month. Property damage is incalculable, as whole areas of each city are abandoned. And these are not the only cities. Shelling from the Kiev side continues all along the de-facto border. It just isn't reported internationally. Jason Ditz typically falls into the false equivalence of saying: "The Minsk ceasefire has intermittently been under pressure from local fighting between rebels and military forces, but has overwhelmingly held." The reality is that Kiev forces shell the cities, the population centres, which are static, non-moving targets. The rebels have the much harder task of hitting Kiev's highly mobile firing positions, which actually are quite frequently in built-up areas, before they move to new firing points and start all over again. The rebels are forbidden by Moscow from simply advancing to take the Kiev firing positions, since Moscow is concerned that they not win outright. That's what Moscow mean when they say they support Minsk: they mean they don't want the rebels either to win outright, or to lose outright and get subjected to Nazi occupation. However, maybe, these are the only two alternatives.