The US is sabre rattling --- again. The question is, will the US people fall for it --- again. by 1kiki

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The US is sabre rattling --- again. The question is, will the US people fall for it --- again.

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Sunday, August 6, 2017 1:47 AM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Militarization Of Scandinavian Peninsula: Time To Ring Alarm Bells

Created 08/01/2017 - 03:30

Much has been said about NATO reinforcements in the Baltic States and Poland perceived in Moscow as provocative actions undermining security in Europe, while very little has been said about gradual but steady militarization of Scandinavia. The theme does not hit headlines and it is not in focus of public discourse but one step is taken after another to turn the region into a springboard for staging offensive actions against Russia.

[5]

Ørland [6] in southern Norway is being expanded to become Norway’s main air force base hosting US-made F-35 Lightnings – the stealth aircraft to become the backbone of Norwegian air power. Norway has purchased 56 of such aircraft. F-35 is an offensive, not defensive, weapon. The nuclear capable platforms can strike deep into Russia’s territory.

Providing training to Norwegian pilots operating the planes carrying nuclear weapons, such as B61-12 glider warheads, constitutes a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) [7] of 1968. Article I of the NPT prohibits the transfer of nuclear weapons from NWS (nuclear weapons states) to other states: «Each nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty undertakes not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or control over such weapons or explosive devices». Article II requires NNWS (non-nuclear weapons states) not to receive nuclear weapons: «Each non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty undertakes not to receive the transfer from any transfer or whatsoever of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or of control over such weapons or explosive devices». How can Russia be sure that these aircraft don’t carry nuclear weapons when there is no agreement of any kind in place to verify compliance with the NPT?

Ørland is located near Værnes - the base that hosts 330 US Marines. In May, the base hosted the biennial NATO military exercise «Arctic Challenge Exercise 2017» to involve over 100 planes from 12 nations. It was the first time a US strategic bomber (B-52H) took part in the training event.

The choice of the base was carefully calculated to keep the planes away from the reach of Russian Iskander missiles (500 kilometres) but no location in Norway is beyond the operational range of Kalibr ship-based sea-to-shore missiles and aircraft armed with long-range air-to-surface missiles.

In June, Norway’s government announced [8] that the decision was taken to extend the rotational US Marine Corps force stationed at Værnes through 2018. The move contradicts the tried-and-true Norwegian policy of not deploying foreign military bases in the country in times of peace.

Also in June, the United States, United Kingdom and Norway agreed in principle to create a trilateral coalition built around the P-8 maritime aircraft to include joint operations in the North Atlantic near the Russian Northern Fleet bases.

Norway is to contribute into NATO ballistic missile defense (BMD) system by integrating its Globus II/III radar in the Vardøya Island located near the Russian border just a few kilometers from the home base of strategic submarines and 5 Aegis-equipped Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates. The radar construction is underway. The Vardøya radar can distinguish real warheads from dummies. Another radar located in Svalbard (the Arctic) can also be used by US military for missile defense purposes.

The country’s ground forces are stationed in Lithuania as part of a NATO multinational force under German command.

Sweden, a close NATO ally, has been upgrading its military with a sharp hike in spending. Last December, the Swedish government told municipal authorities to prepare civil defense infrastructure and procedures for a possible war. The move was prompted by the country’s return to the Cold War-era ‘Total Defense Strategy’. In September, 2016, 150 troops were put on permanent service on the island of Gotland to «defend it from Russia». Sweden maintained a permanent military garrison on Gotland for hundreds of years until 2005.The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has ordered a review of 350 civilian bunkers on the island. The shelters are designed to protect people against the shock wave and radiation from a nuclear detonation, as well as chemical and biological weapons.

In March, Stockholm announced plans to reintroduce compulsory military service abandoned in 2010. The conscription will come into force on January 1, 2018.

Sweden said [9] in June it wishes to join a British-led «Joint Expeditionary Force», making Swedish participation in a general European war all but inevitable.

This month, the Swedish military announced [10] plans to conduct its largest joint military exercise with NATO in 20 years. Called Aurora 17, the training event is scheduled for September. The drills will take place across the entire country but focusing on the Mälardalen Valley, the areas around cities of Stockholm and Gothenberg and on the strategic island of Gotland [11]. More than 19,000 Swedish troops will take part along with 1,435 soldiers from the US, 270 from Finland, 120 from France and between 40-60 each from Denmark, Norway, Lithuania and Estonia.

In June, Russian President Putin warned [12] «If Sweden joins NATO this will affect our relations in a negative way because we will consider that the infrastructure of the military bloc now approaches us from the Swedish side».

In June, 2016, Finland took part in NATO BALTOPS naval exercise. It was the first time NATO forces trained on Finnish territory (The coastal area at Syndale). Back then, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told [13] his Finnish counterpart, Timo Soini, that the Kremlin would take unspecified measures to respond to increased NATO activity in the Baltic region. According to Lavrov, «We do not hide our negative attitude to the movement of NATO's military infrastructure towards our borders, to dragging new states into the military activity of the bloc».

All these facts and events summed together demonstrate that militarization of Scandinavia is progressing by leaps and bounds to undermine the security in Europe. No hue and cry is raised in the Russian media but the developments are closely watched by Moscow. Visiting Finland on July 27, President Putin said [14] Russia was «keeping an eye on certain intensification in the movement of military aircraft, ships and troops. In order for us to avoid negative consequences, situations that no one wants, we need to maintain dialogue». He also stressed readiness for dialogue with neutral countries that border the Baltic Sea like Finland which is not part of the NATO military alliance.

The facts listed above show the situation is grave enough to top the agenda of the NATO-Russia Council. But it’s not the case as yet. Last year, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current President of Germany who was Foreign Minister at the time, slammed [15] NATO for «saber-rattling and war cries» and provocative military activities in the proximity of Russia’s borders. He called for an arms control deal [16] between the West and Russia. Fifteen other members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) joined [17] Steinmeier's initiative: France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Portugal.

Actually, the initiative to relaunch the negotiation process does not belong to Germany. Russia’s proposal to discuss a new European security treaty [18] was rejected by the West. The draft document [19] was published in 2009. In March 2015, Russia expressed its readiness [20] for negotiations concerning a new agreement regarding the control of conventional weapons in Europe.

Moscow has never rejected the idea of launching talks to address the problem. It does not reject it now. The NATO-Russia Council could make a contribution into launching discussions on the matter. It has not done so as yet. Actually, nothing is done to ease the tensions in Europe and the Scandinavian Peninsula in particular. Meanwhile, the situation is aggravating misunderstandings and whipping up tensions.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-31/militarization-scandinavian-p
eninsula-time-ring-alarm-bells

Links:
[1] http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/printmail/600854
[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/print/600854
[4] https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/07/31/militarization-scand
inavian-peninsula-time-ring-alarm-bells.html
[5]

[6] http://wikivisually.com/wiki/%C3%98rland_Main_Air_Station
[7] http://www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2005/npttreaty.html
[8] https://www.regjeringen.no/en/aktuelt/will-extend-usmc-rotational-trai
ning-and-exercises-in-norway/id2558342/
[9] http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-sweden-defence-idUKKBN19D1N6
[10] http://www.forsvarsmakten.se/en/activities/exercises/aurora-17/
[11] http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/gotland
[12] http://tass.com/politics/949067
[13] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-nato-idUSKCN0YS19L
[14] http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55175
[15] http://www.dw.com/en/steinmeier-criticizes-nato-saber-rattling/a-19339
585
[16] https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/11/28/european-states-germ
any-want-arms-control-agreement-russia.html
[17] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-security-russia-idUSKBN13K007
[18] https://ifsh.de/file-CORE/documents/yearbook/english/09/Zagorski-en.pd
f
[19] http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/6152
[20] https://rbth.com/news/2015/03/11/russia_ready_for_new_agreement_on_con
ventional_weapons_in_europe_44376.html

US Approves $3.9 Billion Patriot Missile System For Romania; Putin: "We Will Be Forced To Respond"

On Tuesday the State Department approved the sale of $3.9 billion in patriot missile systems to NATO-member Romania after prior Russia warnings that such actions could be met with severe reprisals.

]
Photo source: Darkone/Wikimedia Commons.

The announcement, issued through the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, is sure to be a huge shot across the bow following on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier unambiguous words [5](issued in May) regarding further NATO build-up in the large Balkan country:

If yesterday in those areas of Romania people simply did not know what it means to be in the cross-hairs, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security. We won't take any action until we see rockets in areas that neighbor us. We've been repeating like a mantra that we will be forced to respond... Nobody wants to hear us. Nobody wants to conduct negotiations with us.

Romania's US-built $800 million ballistic missile defense shield came online for the first time in May, just prior to Trump's meeting [6]with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis early the following month, where the two discussed defense spending and other economic concerns. Romania has been a NATO member only since 2004, but has steadily attracted the attention of Western defense companies – it has increased its defense budget to equal 2% of its GDP this year (approximately 4 billion US dollars) – one of only 5 NATO members to hit that target.

The Pentagon agency's press release cast Romania as the potential victim of aggression in the region:

Romania will use the Patriot missile system to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats. The proposed sale will increase the defensive capabilities of the Romanian military to guard against aggression and shield the NATO allies who often train and operate within Romania’s borders.

NATO build up encroaching Russian defenses. Photo source: The Risk Advisory Group.

The proposal now moves forward for Congressional as well as Romanian parliamentary approval, and will be delivered by Raytheon Corporation and Lockheed-Martin. Other US defense contractors are increasingly in talks with Romania to modernize its army, including General Dynamics, Bell Helicopter, and The Boeing Company. News of the Patriot missile deal was released the same day a massive Patriot missile deployment drill [7]kicked off in Lithuania involving troops from the US, UK, Latvia, and Poland.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-12/us-approves-39-billion-patrio
t-missile-system-romania-putin-we-will-be-forced-respon

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[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/printmail/599662
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[4]

[5] http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05/28/putin-warns-romania-poland-ove
r-implementing-us-missile-shield.html
[6] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-09/trump-meets-romanian-presiden
t-klaus-iohannis-preview
[7] http://www.newsweek.com/us-missiles-arrive-lithuania-support-face-russ
ia-fears-635098

"We Are Forced To Strike Back": Russia Set To Expel 30 US Diplomats, Seize US Assets

By Tyler Durden

Created 07/11/2017 - 17:31

When Obama announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the seizure of Russian diplomatic compounds [4]in Maryland last December, in response to alleged Russian interference in the election, Putin just smiled and said Russia would not retaliate [5], expecting that relations between Russia and the US would normalize under president Trump. Six months later, relations have not only not normalized but have deteriorated further following the latest round of sanctions against Russia despite daily allegations that Trump colluded with the Kremlin to convince several million Americans to vote against Hillary.

And, as a result, Putin's patience appears to have run out, and according to Russian newspaper Izvestiya [6], the Kremlin is set to expel around 30 US diplomats and freeze some US assets in a retaliatory move against Washington.

Quoting a Foreign Ministry source [11], the Izvestiya newspaper says the move is due to the failure to reach an agreement on two Russian diplomatic compounds in the US seized by the outgoing Obama administration in December last year.

“There is a preliminary agreement on holding a meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ryabkov and US Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon in St. Petersburg. If the compromise is not found there, we will have to take such measures,” a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told the Izvestiya newspaper.

Izvestiya also cited Andrey Klimov, a senator in the upper house of Russia's parliament, who said that "Russia had already waited more than six months for the Trump administration to improve the relationship between the two countries" and was now forced to strike back.

"We are forced to draw a line and answer in a similar way," Klimov told Izvestiya. "These moves are not meant as our attempts to show our negative attitudes toward the Trump administration but rather as evidence of the fact that Russia is a strong nation that deserves respectable treatment."

The Russian newspaper adds that the decision came after Trump and Putin's first meeting at the G20 Summit in Germany failed to produce an agreement on the lightening of US sanctions against Russia. The issue of the Russian diplomatic compounds was also raised at the Putin-Trump meeting in Hamburg, according to the Russian press reports.

And, as Trump and his family face fresh claims of collusion with the Kremlin, Putin’s patience over the non-return of the Russian compounds has run out.

According to the newspaper, while the administration plans to seize the American summer house in a forest region outside of Moscow and a warehouse in the center of the city, it will not touch the residence of the American ambassador and the American international school in St. Petersburg.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/we-are-forced-strike-back-rus
sia-set-expel-30-us-diplomats-seize-us-assets

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[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/print/599568
[4] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-29/us-announces-sanctions-agains
t-russia-expels-35-diplomats-retaliation-election-hacki
[5] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-30/putin-stunner-we-will-not-exp
el-anyone-we-refuse-sink-obamas-level
[6] http://iz.ru/616241/nataliia-portiakova/diplomaticheskaia-vzaimnost-za
medlennogo-deistviia
[7] https://t.co/nWxx0bbtfr
[8] https://twitter.com/hashtag/USRussia?src=hash
[9] https://t.co/uLGKiE4YO4
[10] https://twitter.com/SputnikInt/status/884633612133552128
[11] https://sputniknews.com/russia/201707111055424545-moscow-expel-us-dipl
omats/

NATO Vows Support For Ukraine Against Russia's "Aggressive Actions"

Created 07/12/2017 - 03:30

Just a few short days after President Trump's 'relative' rapprochement with Russian President Putin, his 'allies' in NATO have stepped up the rhetoric in a very sensitive area for Putin, as

[4]

As Military.com reports, [5] Ukraine and the West accuse Moscow of smuggling weapons and troops across the porous border in support of the separatists, a charge has repeatedly denied.

"Russia has maintained its aggressive actions against Ukraine, but NATO and NATO allies stand by Ukraine and stand on your side," Stoltenberg said at the NATO-Ukraine Commission session in Kiev.

"Russia must withdraw its thousands of soldiers from Ukraine and stop supporting the militants," he added during a press conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 have driven ties between Moscow and the West to their lowest point since the Cold War.

"We are also here to demonstrate NATO's solidarity with Ukraine and our firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of your country," Stoltenberg said.

"NATO allies do not and will not recognize Russia's illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea."

The NATO chief's trip came a day after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made a maiden visit to Kiev and urged Moscow to take the "first step" to ease the conflict in Ukraine's east.

Ukraine sees NATO accession as a way to bolster its defenses against former master Moscow. In June, Ukraine's parliament voted to back attempts by the nation to seek membership of the 29-member bloc. It approved legal amendments enshrining membership in NATO as a foreign policy priority.

Poroshenko explained that embattled Ukraine was eager to join the bloc, but painful political and economic reforms need to be implemented before the country was ready to lay out its claims on membership.

"We are determined to reforms... to meet the membership criteria," Poroshenko told journalists.

"NATO will continue to support Ukraine on the path towards closer relationships with NATO," Stoltenberg added.

But the Kremlin has long been angered by NATO expansion into what Moscow views as its sphere of influence in the former Soviet region.

"It (Ukraine's rapprochement with NATO) will not contribute to the strengthening of stability and security on the European continent," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

However, Kiev has yet to officially apply to start the lengthy and politically challenging process of joining the US-led alliance.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-11/nato-vows-support-ukraine-aga
inst-russias-aggressive-actions

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[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/printmail/599562
[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/print/599562
[4]

[5] http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/07/10/nato-vows-support-ukrain
e-russia-aggressive-actions.html

US Tanks, Troops Arrive In Estonia As Part Of NATO Anti-Russia Build Up

By Tyler Durden

Created 02/07/2017 - 14:28

Tyler Durden's picture[1]

by Tyler Durden [1]

Feb 7, 2017 2:28 PM

Twitter Facebook Reddit [2] [3]

As part of continued a NATO build-up and US efforts to counter an alleged Russian threat, US military hardware, including M1A2 Abrams battle tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have arrived in the northern Estonian town of Tapa, shortly after similar deployments were made to other Eastern European nations including Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany.

]

"The movement of equipment and troops into and around Europe marks the beginning of a continuous rotation of armored brigade combat teams from the United States as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve," the US Defense Department said in a statement, commenting on the move. It added that "Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of continued US commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine."

In July 2016, NATO members agreed to the “biggest reinforcement since the Cold War,” posting four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

More than 50 units of US military equipment, including four battle tanks and 15 infantry fighting vehicles, were delivered to Tapa, the Estonian Defense Forces said in a statement [5]. Personnel of the Charlie Company of 68th Armored Regiment's 1st Battalion from the US Army 4th Infantry Division arrived in the town two days earlier, on January 30. Company commander Captain Edward Bachar said the US troops would take part in the Estonian Independence Day parade. Earlier, Bachar also said that his company would begin its expert marksmanship training this week.

The new unit would replace a paratrooper company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 503rd Infantry Regiment, which was deployed to Estonia in September. The paratrooper company would then go back to its permanent base in Italy.

The Estonian deployment marks a new phase of the Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in April 2014, following the flaring of tensions between Russia and the West. Atlantic Resolve is perceived by Washington as a demonstration of continued US commitment to the collective security of Europe in the view of alleged Russian “assertiveness.”

As reported previously, last month some 2,800 pieces of US military hardware, including US Abrams tanks, Paladin artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles and 4,000 troops arrived in Europe as part of the operation. These forces subsequently moved to Poland to participate in military drills in late January, and then were deployed across seven countries, including the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany. A headquarters unit is stationed in Germany.

In addition to American troops going to Poland, NATO members Germany, Canada and Britain are also contributing to the significant NATO forces buildup in Eastern Europe and are sending battalions of up to 1,000 troops each to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Apart from the military buildup on Russian borders, the US and NATO strategy also includes conducting continuous, enhanced multinational training and security cooperation activities with US and NATO partners in eastern Europe. Since the Operation began, these military exercises have been conducted in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. In mid-January, Estonia and Lithuania also signed agreements with the US regulating the status and deployment framework of American soldiers and hardware on the territory of the two Baltics states, which were dubbed “first of its kind.”

As RT adds [6], the agreements provided a legal framework for the presence of US military personnel and their family members in the two Baltic States, as well as the use of the local military sites by American troops. They also enable a range of joint “defense-related activities.”

Meanwhile, while NATO members continue to point toward perceived “Russian aggression,” calling it “a source of instability,” Russia has repeatedly denied that it poses any kind of threat. Moscow has also expanded its own military training and increased its strategic nuclear capabilities in areas such as Kaliningrad, its western exclave. Russia also tried to ease tensions by proposing enhanced cooperation with NATO on multiple levels in August. The proposal covered such fields as combating terrorism and “cooperation to avoid incidents at sea and in the air” in border areas with NATO countries.

For now, Trump's formal stance on the ongoing Ukraine conflict, as well as NATO build up and encirclement of Russia has yet to be determined.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-07/us-tanks-troops-arrive-estoni
a-part-nato-anti-russia-build

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[4]

[5] http://www.mil.ee/et/uudised/9591/tapale-saabus-%C3%BCle-50-%C3%BChiku
-usa-s%C3%B5jatehnikat
[6] https://www.rt.com/news/376513-us-tanks-arrive-estonia/

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Published on Zero Hedge ( http://www.zerohedge.com)

Home > Hundreds Of US Tanks Arrive In Europe To Support NATO Anti-Russian Buildup

Hundreds Of US Tanks Arrive In Europe To Support NATO Anti-Russian Buildup

Created 01/06/2017 - 12:43

As we reported yesterday [4], Lithuania confirmed the presence of U.S. special forces inside its territory, stating the deployment’s purpose is to train local forces and act as a deterrent against Russian aggression. Supposedly, the move is in response to a "escalation" by Vladimir Putin, who has been deploying nuke-ready missiles in the Russian province of Kaliningrad located in the heart of central Europe. This move has prompted the neighboring Baltic states to become “highly concerned” about Russian military activity.

Furthermore, sometime during the spring of 2017, NATO is expected to send battalions [5] of 800 to 1,200 troops to each of the Baltic States and Poland. The mainstream media [6] has even dubbed NATO’s recent buildup the alliance’s “biggest military buildup on Russia’s borders since the Cold War.” Even Great Britain will be sending fighter jets, as well as troops [7] to Romania in order to counter Russia in the region.

Over the last several years, Russia has made it abundantly clear in the past that its deployment of missiles is a deterrent against NATO expansion along its borders, in what is effectively a cat-and-mouse game that continues to be played with catastrophic consequences, and which neither side can win.

Meanwhile, as part of the latest conventional arms race, on Friday hundreds of U.S. tanks, trucks and other military equipment arrived by ship in Germany to be transported by rail and road to eastern Europe as part of a NATO buildup that has drawn Russia's ire. According to Reuters [8], two shiploads arrived in the northern port of Bremerhaven and a third was due in a few days, bringing the fleets of tracked and wheeled vehicles for use by around 4,000 U.S. troops being deployed for exercises in NATO states near Russia.

]

U.S. and Polish forces will participate in a large "massing" exercise in Poland at the end of January as part of a series of measures aimed at reassuring U.S. allies in Europe after Russia's 2014 annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. Beginning in February, U.S. military units will spread out across Poland, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany for training, exercises and maintenance.

"The best way to maintain the peace is through preparation," Major General Timothy McGuire told reporters when asked if the large deployment was meant to send a message to Russia.

He also admitted that "this is just showing the strength and cohesion of the alliance and the U.S. commitment to maintain the peace on the continent." It is also a provocation specifically designed to provoke Putin into further escalation, something which Obama also did last week with the expuslion of 35 Russian diplomats.

NATO countries say their planned deployments to eastern NATO countries are purely defensive, but Russia has rebuked what it sees as an aggressive western buildup in eastern Europe.

In addition to U.S. troops going to Poland, NATO members Germany, Canada and Britain are also sending battalions of up to 1,000 troops each to the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They say the four battalions, backed by additional U.S. forces on rotation, are justified by Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Those actions alarmed the Baltic states, which worry they could be the next targets of Russian pressure.

Among their equipment will be 87 Abrams M1A1 tanks, 20 Paladin artillery vehicles and 136 Bradley fighting vehicles.

The equipment will be used by the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, arriving this month from Fort Carson, Colorado for the first of what Washington promises will be back-to-back nine-month rotations in the "foreseeable future."

The Army is also sending its 10th Combat Aviation Brigade with about 50 Black Hawk and 10 CH-47 Chinook helicopters and 1,800 personnel, as well as a separate aviation battalion with 400 troops and 24 Apache helicopters.

Amid this dangerous escalation, voices of reason were few and far between. One of them belonged to Germany's Left party, which has called for closer ties with Russia, said Berlin had a historic obligation to work for peace and disarmament, and it would protest against the deployment. "Tanks never create peace anywhere," said Christian Goerke, who heads the party in Brandenburg state. "Quite the contrary, a troop deployment of such a scale is part of always increasing buildup and provocation."

Unfortunately both the US Military-Industrial complex, and the US government, stubbornly pretend not to recognize this simple logic.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-06/hundreds-us-tanks-arrive-euro
pe-support-nato-anti-russian-buildup

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[4] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-05/us-has-begun-amassing-troops-
russian-border
[5] http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/lithuania-confirms-presence-us-special-forces
-1599296
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/military-build-up-along-
russias-border-no-cause-for-alarm
[7] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/uk-to-deploy-hundreds-of
-troops-and-aircraft-to-eastern-europe
[8] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-russia-idUSKBN14Q1VC?feedType=R
SS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29
[9]

Zero Hedge

American Troops "Roll Into Poland" In Largest Deployment Since The Cold War

"American soldiers rolled into Poland on Thursday, fulfilling a dream Poles have had since the fall of communism in 1989 to have U.S. troops on their soil as a deterrent against Russia."

That's how the AP begins [4]its report on the first deployment of US soldiers into the central European country, previewed here earlier in the week as "One Of Largest Deployments Since The Cold War [5]", even as Russia warned that the move represented a threat to its national security, and the Kremlin said "Russia regarded the move as an aggressive step along its borders."

Two convoys of have been photographed heading to Poland from Germany today

40 vehicles across two separate convoys are on their way to Poland

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/20
17/01/01/800%20%281%29_0.jpeg]

NATO, however, has ignored Russian concerns and threats of retaliation and as a result soldiers in camouflage with tanks and other vehicles crossed into southwestern Poland on Thursday morning from Germany and headed for Zagan, where they will be based.

The largest US military brigade since the end of the Cold War arrived in
Bremerhaven in northern Germany on Saturday

While in the past the US and other Western nations have carried out exercises on NATO's eastern flank, this deployment, which includes around 3,500 U.S. troops and 2,800 tanks, trucks and other military equipment, marks the first-ever continuous deployment to the region by a NATO ally. It also represents a commitment by outgoing President Obama to "protect" a region that became deeply nervous over Russia's response to the CIA-orchestrated presidential coup in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, and the resulting proxy war in east Ukraine.

Two convoys of 20 vehicles were pictured leaving Brueck near Lehnin in Germany today heading to Poland. They spent the night 80km from Berlin. Troops will also deployed to Romania, Bulgaria and across the Baltics.

The Pentagon now plans to keep the full deployment in Europe and immediately replace those returning after their 9-month stays. The US troops will carry out training exercises with NATO forces once there.

* * *

As AP adds [4], the arrival of the US troops will be feted on Saturday in official ceremonies attended by Poland's prime minister and defense minister.

Despite the Polish celebrations, clouds hung over the historic moment. As the AP puts it, "there are anxieties that the enhanced security could eventually be undermined by the pro-Kremlin views of President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Russia appears provoked by the deployment of American troops on its doorstep."

"We perceive it as a threat," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "These actions threaten our interests, our security. Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. "It's not even a European state."

Worries about the permanence of the new U.S. security commitments are rooted in a tragic national history in which Poland has often lost out in deals made over its head by the great powers.

Source URL: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-12/american-troops-roll-poland-l
argest-deployment-cold-war

Links:
[1] http://www.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden
[2] http://www.zerohedge.com/printmail/584985
[3] http://www.zerohedge.com/print/584985
[4] https://apnews.com/cb5d55ba66694c2ca0f4094e26926345
[5] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-09/thousands-us-troops-begin-arr
iving-europe-one-largest-deployments-cold-war
[6] http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/20
17/01/01/800%20%281%29.jpeg

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Sunday, August 6, 2017 6:11 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Who is doing the sabre rattling?

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Sunday, August 6, 2017 12:18 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Is Donald Trump Tweeting the U.S. into a War on North Korea?

Trump has exhibited a disturbing pattern of reckless spontaneity, usually expressed publicly through his Twitter feed, when announcing what could rightly be construed as new U.S. policies. Indeed, when Trump’s senior adviser Sebastian Gorka was asked on Fox News what leverage Trump has left to pressure China to do more to contain potential threats from North Korea, Gorka shot back: “We have, you know, the president’s Twitter feed.”

Perhaps more disturbing than what Trump tweets publicly is what he is telling influential U.S. senators privately. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said recently that Trump told him he is willing to militarily obliterate the nation of North Korea if necessary. “There is a military option to destroy North Korea’s program and North Korea itself,” Graham told NBC. Trump, he said, “told me that to my face.”

Trump is doing his best to inflame tensions with North Korea. Last weekend, the U.S. flew two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula. It also conducted a ballistic missile test in the region. South Korea is now asking the Trump administration for its own new missiles with a capacity to strike deeper into the North.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are not new. And every U.S. administration seems to find itself in a similar conundrum with the regime. But Trump is erratic and tends to just spit out whatever he is thinking. And that could prove very dangerous with nuclear weapons and nuclear powers.

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/06/donald-trump-north-korea-intercept
ed-podcast-john-feffer/

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Sunday, August 6, 2017 12:29 PM