“. . . Our life is not altogether forgetting. But, to great extent remembering that which should never have been.”
- Henry David Thoreau
According to Der Spiegel magazine, the NATO alliance is deliberating a potential Russian military campaign in Eastern Europe. Their assertions - said to be based on having acquired access to internal NATO documents. Subsequently, international MSM’s reporting assigned to NATO corroborates the integrity of this information.
The former Soviet Union may not be the trusted partner we’d hoped for. Western Europe for two decades believed its Eastern allies wrong in their fears of the worst. While Russia’s relationship with the US has been tenuous at best under its leadership by Vladimir Putin.
Now, NATO military leaders, in response to the buildup of Russian troops and weaponry along its border with Ukraine, are exploring new strategies. About 4,000 NATO troops from 15 countries have been staging exercises. The US, always the strongest force among NATO military might has already begun shaping maneuvers designed to adapt to a different type of enemy.
US troops stationed in Europe will have to readjust from counter-insurgency tactics to confronting a possible enemy employing entire companies, battalions, tanks, and heavy weapons. Most American combat troops have been engaged in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where deployment of large conventional forces had not been strategically effective. An ominous sign – commanders conducting retraining is already underway. Does this scenario portend of direct military confrontation with Russia? It may, we are preparing for it, BUT do not yet know.
When former Pres. Clinton’s administration oversaw US relationship with NATO, the Founding Act on Mutual Relations pact was signed in 1997. It stated that NATO and Russia agreed, “past aggression must be undone, replaced by strengthening mutual trust and cooperation." Unfortunately, a different direction appears underway. NATO alliance Secretary-General Rasmussen stated, “Russia’s current behavior presents a new security situation.”
Putin has demonstrated his willingness to use military force; engaging in combat proves he is not committed to a policy of non-aggression. Russia’s positioning of troops displays intentions of extending its borders into neighboring states, and instills fear in former Soviet satellites such as Latvia. Despite his insistence that neutrality is the basis of Russian foreign policy, Putin’s actions say otherwise. Has the Bear reawakened? For the US, such an encounter added to our ongoing missions confronting terrorism is an overwhelming consideration.
U.S. Army Capt. Jon Cochran is company commander of Fort Hood-based 1st Brigade Combat Team; they served two tours in Afghanistan. Reassigned to NATO forces, (in Hohenfels, Germany), their new mission is dubbed Combined Resolve II. “Whatever comes next, we have to be prepared,” - Brig. Gen. Walter Piatt, commander of the Joint Multinational Training Command, was quoted by NBC news covering NATO forces in Europe. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove is the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. MSM, [earlier this month] reported he stressed a new paradigm in Europe; created by Russia’s actions during the Ukraine conflict.
Resources:
• US Dept. of Defense
• Stars & Stripes
• The Associated Press
• Reuters
• NBC News
• Der Spiegel
• London Royal United Services Institute
Jays Jewels is written by author & political activist Jay H. Berman. His work has appeared in sulia.com, buzzfeed.com. PBS online & Chicken Soup for the Soul. He serves as an Assoc. Editor for blogger Ron Tenin at http://www.ronrambles.com
- Follow Jay on twitter @BermanJ1