NATO and EU close ranks in bid to halt migrants, counter Russia
 

NATO and EU close ranks in bid to halt migrants, counter Russia

"...The ministerial meeting in Brussels marks the start of an aggressive push to implement policies adopted at the NATO summit in Warsaw in July, including the stationing of new battalions in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, totaling between 3,000 and 4,000 soldiers. Critics say that presence may be symbolically important but is hardly sufficient should Russia launch an invasion by ground forces into the Baltics.

The U.S. will lead the battalion in Poland, while Britain will do so in Estonia, Germany in Lithuania, and Canada in Latvia. Other NATO nations, including France, are expected to supply troops. A multinational force is also being readied for deployment in Romania, and NATO has begun efforts to step up naval activity in the Black Sea, officials said, as the alliance seeks to position itself to counter Russian aggression both in Northern and Southern Europe........"

Attendees of that ministerial meeting are probably keen fans of Hollywood horror films about "Russian invasion".

The US battalion has bet the right horse, though - the girls in Poland are definitely more attractive than those in the neighbouring countries.

Don't tell the Donald.

Ahh yes, those famous fantasy films themed on Georgia, South Ossetia, Crimea or East Ukraine.

Ten Years too late. The rest is "signaling" for both Russian consumption and allied consumption, at the political level.


As a senior Army officer once described it to us (not a direct quote, paraphrasing)


"... when the 82d airborne was quickly deployed into the Mideast after Saddam invaded Kuwait, the first 72 hours was a calculated strategic risk intended to send a signal ... but the iron majors in the plans and ops shops referred to them as the "82d speed bump division" until more and heavier forces had deployed into theater."


Speed bump battalions, at the moment, but mostly sending a political signal.

Ha hope your nomex is up to date recceguy, they'll be waking up soon...

if they'll counter Russia with the same efficiency they are halting migrants then Russia could just sit&watch

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...eastern-europe

"....The UK is deploying hundreds of troops, as well as aircraft and armour to eastern Europe as part of the biggest build-up of Nato forces in the region since the cold war. The deployment is taking place during growing tensions over a series of high-profile Russian military manoeuvres.

RAF Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby will be sent to Romania for up to four months....... The RAF Typhoon fighters will be sent to join the Baltic air policing mission to offer reassurance to the Black Sea allies, the MoD said. It will be the first time RAF planes have been dispatched to patrol Romanian airspace......... The Typhoons will be based at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airbase, Romania, for up to four months in 2017........"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miha...tional_Airport

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/304/med...base_oct13.gif

Not a bad place to be based and close to the Romanian Riviera.

All the Romanians I met a couple of weeks ago in Bucharest were very friendly and it'll doubtless be the same at Mihail Kogălniceanu.

Only problem being that 'MK air base', as they call it, is already something of a Little America...:(

Still, by the time the Typhoons are due to deploy, the next US President might perhaps have had a meeting with Vladimir Putin and moderated her aggressive tone towards Russia?

Lets ignore Russia's defeats when they invaded Poland/Germany in 1919 and Finland in 1939, shall we.

Am I right in thinking that Lakenheath is now the only operational USAF base in the UK?

Mildenhall is still busy.

"..in a bid to halt migrants ". Well we could always have refrained from encouraging rebellion and supporting terrorism (by our own definition) in the first place. (No I'm I'm not an Assad or Putin fan but did the situation then really compare with the current horror?)

Not if the FBI has anything to do with it beegs

The RAF Typhoon fighters will be sent to join the Baltic air policing mission to offer reassurance to the Black Sea allies, the MoD said.


Isn't that a bit like 1435 Flt operating a CAP over Cuba to offer reassurance to the Falkland Islands?

The Russkies didn't do too well against the Japanese in 1904/1905 either. The Russian navy, in particular, got its metaphorical arse kicked.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tsushima

HQ2, are you confusing the Baltic and Black seas?

It was your MoD quote ORAC that mentioned both.

You clearly haven't spoken to many Ukranians recently...or Crimean Tartars, or Georgians....

Or Syrians in Aleppo...

Lets not forget the syrians that die in government held areas that die due to rebel/jihadi shelling.

But that doesn't fit western MSM propaganda.

There's probably a difference between under-reporting and propaganda.

Any idea of the difference in scale between the casualty figures or the systematic process with which one is being carried out by 2 State actors? If you want a pop at the Western media, why not look at the coverage of the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, which it is claimed, is supported by the UK by the wicked sale of armaments. The Times featured it at the weekend.

It still doesn't come anywhere near the eradication of rebel-held Aleppo, so I can't see how you reasonably claim this to be propaganda.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a regime apologist.

My issue is that the Jihadi sunni terrorist rebels are just as bad as the Shia state backed terrorists. And this isn't reported by the western MSM. One side is as bad as the other.

I agree with downsizer.


Both sides in Syria are bad and should be stopped and disarmed. However, from the point of view of "our civilization", any secular regime is better than a dictatorship of religious fanatics.


Mass media are now doing very dangerous things. Reporting only negative facts about one side and keep silence about similar acts from another is an everyday practice. E.g., when Al Nusra terrorists (read, Al-Qaeda) were bombed in Eastern Aleppo, the western world got furious about collateral damages and casualties of civil population that was used as a human shield. After the truce (which was used by Al Nusra to re-group and get more weaponry) and 2 weeks of pause in bombing, these terrorists have started an offensive to the western part of the city. And they use not only mortars, but also chemicals (chlorine). In the same way, many civilans including children were killed in the areas controlled by the government (yes, bad government). What was reported by media like Euronews, DW, France 24? It was vaguely said that fighting still goes on, and that Aleppo deserves peace. Right, but why not to "invite the actors" (supported by the West) to an international war tribunal, in the same way as the Assad's gang was "invited"?