Pentagon Vows More European Wargames to ‘Deter Russia’

Major Deployment of Tanks Meant to Ensure 'A Europe That is Whole'

Despite the incoming president-elect making a normalization of diplomatic ties with Russia a top priority, the Pentagon continues to move forward with bigger and more complicated wargames, vowing to continue coming up with ever more such operations to “deter Russian aggression.”

Lt. Gen. Tim Ray, the deputy commander of Eurocom, insisted that the ongoing wargames, which involve the US deploying large numbers of tanks into Germany to practice massing large numbers of tanks in a single place, was vital to “ensure the territorial integrity of our allies and maintain a Europe that is whole, free, prosperous, and at peace.”

Since regime change in Ukraine saw a Russian ally replaced with a Western-backed president, tensions have been on the rise between NATO and Russia, with US officials hyping the idea that Russia could invade Eastern Europe at any moment, and throwing large numbers of troops into the area to fight in that war.

Multiple years into this build-up the Russian invasion never happened, but the hype continues, particularly to the extent officials can parlay that into bigger budgets, and even if the Trump Administration manages full normalization of ties with Russia, the Pentagon will likely continue to play “New Cold War” in Europe.

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.