As I watched on TV as President Biden was addressing, or trying to address, our military troops in Poland I asked myself, "Why the hell do we have military troops in Poland?" Good ole Uncle Sam (D.C. politicians) just don't learn.
For protection of a NATO long time member who will now share a border with Russia if this unprovoked invasion is successful and Ukraine falls.
Even better yet, why did Bumbling Brandon tell members of the 82nd Airborne Division what they would see when they were in Ukraine? (1) I suspect that the approximately 9,000 US Troops currently in Eastern Poland(2) are there as an additional show of support to NATO and possibly to help out with the influx of Ukrainian refugees. Beyond that, I'm reluctant to speculate. Putin will most likely grab as much as he can while the US is encumbered with the most incompetent administration America has had to endure in modern history. (1) "Biden tells US troops they’ll be in Ukraine in war gaffe" https://nypost.com/2022/03/25/joe-biden-says-us-troops-will-be-in-ukraine-in-apparent-gaffe/ EXCERPT "President Biden told US troops in Poland Friday that they will witness the bravery of Ukrainians fighting off Russia’s invasion “when you’re there” — making a significant gaffe after he previously said the US must stay out of the European conflict to avoid triggering “World War III.” CONTINUED (2) "In Forests Along Polish Border, US Troops Edge Closer to Ukraine Conflict" https://www.voanews.com/a/in-forest...edge-closer-to-ukraine-conflict-/6480241.html
Isn’t Poland a newly free democracy, one of our best allies, a member of NATO? I’d rather our forces be there than in a shaky at best ally like Germany.
But why us? Why not troops from the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Italy or Greece? What’s the matter with having Europeans defend Europe? What is the matter with those people??
Name one country that has their military troops stationed on our soil should we be attacked. Name one country that has their military troops stationed on our southern border where we are being invaded.
Not a relevant position, Russia/China are not on this continent (militarily) and we can mobilize fast enough to counter that threat should it occur; when Bush moved on Afghanistan then Iraq, our NATO allies were there.
LOL. We used to have over 300 000 troops in Europe, and now its down to a fraction of it. They are there too. "MND NE (Multinational Division North East in Elbląg) – from 2017 roku. It consists of soldiers from: Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Romania, Turkey, the United States, Hungary, Great Britain and Slovakia."
Well stupid Xoe and the Dems dosent look at the invasion of the southern border as an invasion. They look at it like a whole bunch of future voters are arriving at the border. The drugs, drug dealers, felons and Covid affected coming in are of no concern to Stupid Xoe, Kommie, the border czar or the Dems. But it will be after the midterm elections when Xoe, the stupid one, is impeached.
Our service people should be having a good time with the poles. These are warm, wonderful people who will treat them like kings and queens. They’ll be stuffed full of Kielbasa, Perogie and Guamkie.
Forthcoming? They should be asking themselves how we beat them there from the other side of the damn globe! FFS!!
Ha, it took President Trump to make the NATO countries pay their delinquent dues. They play the USA for a sucker. Trump put the USA first, unlike loser Biden. So, why is one single soldier there? No one can give a good answer. We can't pay our bills yet we set up military bases all over the world. The politicians aren't putting the USA first.
Yes, but we also deployed 2,000 troops from Ft Bragg last month. Are we supposed to believe that all of Europe couldn’t scrape together an additional 2,000 troops? I know my exasperation with the Europeans is showing, but I think it’s well deserved.
It's the way NATO works unfortunately which is mostly our own fault. For one America loves being involved in everything and having the ability to project our military power around the globe, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. No matter where the enemy is "we" are not very far away. Europe and NATO take huge advantage of that though by constantly relying on America and our massive defense budget to be there to defend them or at least take the brunt of the load. Much of the world gets away with not having to spend massive amounts of money on their military because the US protects everybody for the most part. Europe and even just the other NATO nations without US involvement are fully capable of mobilizing enough forces to defend Europe from Russia if they wanted to even if Russia were to launch a full flown all out attack. The US just has this mentality that "we are the defenders of the free world" so no matter what pops off we always feel it our moral obligation to go help with it. Everyone else knows that too which is why our allies always wait for us to move first and then follow. But to be fair that's sort of our own fault too. I mean when was the last time Canada decided to go invade somebody? It's almost always the US who starts wars with people and then calls on our allies to come help out. But in this particular case where Russia is actively invading Europe then yeah it should 100% be the European nations of NATO bearing the brunt of this. I have no problem with the US contributing, at the end of the day we are an "alliance" so we should be sending at least some troops and supplies because that's what we expect our allies to do for us when we decide to do stuff like invade Iraq for no reason. But if NATO is actively forming a coalition in Europe because of the Russian threat then it absolutely needs to be comprised primarily of European forces. We'll send a Brigade Combat Team or something, they can supply the rest.
Because we are the giant that Putin won't **** with. Do you think Putin gives two shits what Greece thinks? Europe is not very unified, even if they claim to be, and I bet that if Putin continued invading countries, half of them wouldn't show up, and if they did would be ineffective. If there is one thing the USA is good at, it is winning battles. I know, we suck at winning wars lately, but that is another matter, and a political one. We win battles hands down. If Russian tanks cross into Poland, they will be piles of twisted metal within a mile of the border, and Putin knows it. Especially given the performance of the Russian army so far.
And who's fault is that exactly? And better yet who's primary problem is it? You said it, Putin can't/won't **** with us so if he decides to march through Europe and Europe can't even be bothered to defend themselves then why exactly is that our problem to deal with? I don't see any Red Starred aircraft flying over my house...Granted, Russia marching through Europe would indeed have some effect on the world including America but nowhere near the effect it would have on Europe themselves. I'm willing to stomach those third order effects here at home vs fighting and dying to defend a continent that can't even be bothered to show up to the battlefield to defend their own homeland. Damn that.
They do need to do more. We need to pivot to the Pacific Ocean and Asia as our interests there face a bigger challenge.
But as I keep reminding everyone, Europe has a greater population and a greater GDP than the U.S. They have no excuse for not having a formidable pan-European defense force that would be more than capable of defending themselves in case of Russian aggression. More than capable. And Russia has shown the world that their conventional forces aren’t sh-t anyway. Sometimes I think our thoughts are mired in the 1940s when most of Europe was destroyed by war, and they truly did need protection by the U.S. We need to snap out of it. The only thing stopping them from being militarily independent is that American taxpayers are still protecting them instead of European taxpayers.
Sorry, but I think defeating dictators who are trying to conquer nations we are friendly with is our problem. It's one thing if they just play dictator in their own country, but another entirely if they are trying to expand into other democratic nations. I don't believe that we should ever shrug our shoulders and say "that's their problem" in that case. Maybe Europe could defend itself, but that isn't nearly the deterrent that a US force brings to the table. Putin might be willing to give a European military a go, which will lead to much more death and destruction. Putin won't do that if there is a strong US presence there. I would be ashamed to call myself American if we left Europe to its fate. We are better than that, or should at least strive to be.
I disagree. A strong show of unity can prevent a hell of a lot of death and destruction. Even if Europe could defend itself from a Russian invasion, I still believe we should have a strong presence their to show our stance against dictatorships.