Tuesday, February 02, 2016
Gone are the days
When, as the British did, you could maintain the Empire with a couple of gentlemen officers and a handful of other ranks. Nowadays you have to lay out the heavy bread for the heavy equipment even if you will e letting the local wogs run it for you.
President Obama plans to substantially increase the deployment of heavy weapons, armored vehicles and other equipment to NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe, a move that administration officials said was aimed at deterring Russia from further aggression in the region.No one is sure what the Russian response will be, but it does appear that the Pentagon has forgotten that the whole Iron Curtain thing was driven by a paranoia resulting from two German and one Polish invasion in a 30 year span last century. It would be a mistake to think that the Russians have forgotten.
The White House plans to pay for the additional weapons and equipment with a budget request of more than $3.4 billion for military spending in Europe in 2017, several officials said Monday, more than quadrupling the current budget of $789 million. The weapons and equipment will be used by American and NATO forces, ensuring that the alliance can maintain a full armored combat brigade in the region at all times.
Though Russia’s military activity has quieted in eastern Ukraine in recent months, Moscow continues to maintain a presence there, working with pro-Russian local forces. Administration officials said the additional NATO forces were calculated to send a signal to President Vladimir V. Putin that the West remained deeply suspicious of his motives in the region.
“This is not a response to something that happened last Tuesday,” a senior administration official said. “This is a longer-term response to a changed security environment in Europe. This reflects a new situation, where Russia has become a more difficult actor.”
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