600 Ground Troops to Eastern Europe--Why?

[yellowwoodII]

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/american-troops-eastern-europe-ukraine-russia-105910.html

I am reminded of the quote attributed to Chekov: If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."

Are we actually threatening to use military force in Eastern Europe?" If not, why are they there?

I say now: No! No! No!

[JVS]

1. It's a chip on the shoulder.

600 soldiers can't stop anything. But you can put them there and say "If anything happens to these guys it means war"

[ljm2002]

21. Yes, 600 soldiers can't do much...

...but the fear that some of us have is it's a foot in the door for further military support from us. I refer you to this excerpt regarding the history of the Vietnam conflict:

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1961.html

May 1961 - President Kennedy sends 400 American Green Beret 'Special Advisors' to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in methods of 'counter-insurgency' in the fight against Viet Cong guerrillas.

The role of the Green Berets soon expands to include the establishment of Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) made up of fierce mountain men known as the Montagnards. These groups establish a series of fortified camps strung out along the mountains to thwart infiltration by North Vietnamese.

So I am not at all reassured by the notion that we are saying "If anything happens to these guys it means war" -- on the contrary, that is exactly what is disturbing about it.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Signal to Russia that NATO members will be defended--some skin

in the game offered as proof.

[Bigmack]

3. Schoolyard bullshit....

... unworthy of a (formerly) Great Power. And I mean us.

In the words of our Teapublican "friends".....

WE CAN'T AFFORD IT! Our military supply lines stretch from New Jersey. The Russians' stretches a couple hundred miles. Do we really want to piss away more money on yet another overseas adventure?

I think Putin knows it. We pushed the Soviets into wild spending during the Cold War, and Putin wants to play that same card.

For once... can we play this smart?

[TwilightGardener]

8. They're stationed in Europe. These troops are coming mostly from Italy.

600 soldiers on a deployment from Europe to Eastern Europe isn't going to break the DoD or the US.

[Bigmack]

22. Supplies still come from the US....

... and if it costs an extra dime, we can't afford it!

I told you, I'm taking a page from the Teapublican playbook.

It's still schoolyard bullshit.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Trainers/advisors?

600 of our guys, especially spread out across 4 or more countries is certainly not any sort of combat squad.

They could be largely there to assess the capabilities of those nations and give advice and see what sort of hardware the US might want to provide those countries.

[MohRokTah]

5. Treaty obligations.

It sounds like the pentagon has written off at least half of the Ukraine and are insuring that Russia understands that NATO allies must not receive the Ukrainian treatment.

[pampango]

7. Living up to treaty commitments. What a novel concept.

[liberal N proud]

6. To keep John McCain's pecker hard

[el_bryanto]

12. He should try some of that viagra stuff people are always talking about

Probably be cheaper.

Bryant

[liberal N proud]

13. It wouldn't satisfy his warmongering needs

[el_bryanto]

14. Maybe he could take it while watching Patton?

Hey why does Obama care so much about keeping McCain's pecker hard? Didn't McCain run against Obama back in the day?

[LanternWaste]

9. Troop placement of this small a scale is part and parcel of the diplomatic language.

Troop placement of this small a scale is part and parcel of the diplomatic language.

(Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy, by Charles Freeman )

[RobertEarl]

10. Threaten?

Who? The US is threatening some other country?

Yeah, invasions and drones and warships and missiles and space weapons and and and.... 700 billions a year.... we ain't exactly peaceniks, are we?

I think Obama has the potential, tho. He could be a world class peacenik.

Can we get behind that possibility?

[JoePhilly]

11. 600 troops? There are more people on a Carniville Cruise.

[yellowwoodII]

15. However,

When you take a knife to a fight, even a penknife, you run the risk of escalation.
I prefer to see diplomatic negotiations.

[hack89]

16. They are there as a tripwire

not enough troops to be an offensive threat to Russia(and give Russia an excuse to attack) but enough that Russia could not attack without starting a war. It is to make Russia think twice before messing with NATO countries.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Obama trying on his comfortable cowboy boots.

[okaawhatever]

18. It is to let Poland and the Baltics know we hear and understand their concerns. We are there

probably training or doing some sort of joint planning exercise. Just enough to let them know we care, not enough to threaten. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia's response to Ukraine is visceral and steeped in history. It means something entirely different to them than it does to us. Poland and Lithuania invoked Article 4 of the NATO agreement, they have some very real concerns.

He spoke after Poland, in concert with Lithuania, called a meeting of Nato ambassadors citing article 4 of the Nato treaty on emergency “consultations” if a Nato member feels threatened.

It is just the fourth time in the alliance’s 55-year history that an article 4 meeting has taken place: Turkey called one on Iraq in 2003 and two on Syria in 2012.

“If you look at the map, Ukraine borders four Nato allies, so the situation in Ukraine is of direct importance: What we are seeing is increasing instability in our neighbourhood, so this meeting is important and timely,” a Nato official said.

http://euobserver.com/defence/123350

[EX500rider]

19. All NATO members are going to occasionally have NATO exercises, why wouldn't they?

[Aerows]

20. We all know why

Because there is profit to be made by selling and deploying weapons. The MIC never rests in seeking new markets, and the politicians they fund with contributions never stop seeking new places to use them.

[Jesus Malverde]

23. K&R

Searching for peace in a world of war mongers.