Pentagon Pushing for More Ground Troops in Eastern Europe

Gen. Breedlove: New Announcements Likely in a Couple of Months

Ongoing US announcements of military build-ups in Eastern Europe, nominally in response to “Russian aggression in Ukraine,” are continuing apace, despite the Ukrainian Civil War remaining in a state of ceasefire for virtually the entirety of 2015. The latest reports have the Pentagon seeking to send multiple new brigades.

Military leaders are arguing Russia’s involvement in the war against ISIS threatens to distract from the war in Ukraine, which appears to be of particular concern since the war largely doesn’t involve any fighting anymore at any rate, and says they need to keep putting troops in to “deter” Russia.

Most previous deployments in Eastern Europe have been comparatively small, with the Pentagon settling for sending a few tanks or some infantry at a time as a way of spreading out the deployments. Gen. Philip Breedlove, however, suggests this new deployment would be announced in “a couple of months” and would be quite a bit larger.

New overseas deployments and new programs are a great way for the Pentagon to continue to grow its budget, and Russia seems to increasingly be the go-to excuse for all things military. While the claims aren’t credible, they seem to be successful, as there seems to be little serious debate on whether hostile actions toward Russia are necessary.

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.