US war on Russia? Obama moves 1000s tanks into E Europe

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

US sends 3,600 tanks against Russia – Massive NATO deployment underway
https://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2017/01/04/us-sends-3600-tanks-ag ainst-russia-massive-nato-deployment-underway/

The NATO war preparation against Russia, ‘Operation Atlantic Resolve’, is in full swing. 2,000 US tanks will be sent in coming days from Germany to Eastern Europe, and 1,600 US tanks is deployed to storage facilities in the Netherlands. At the same time, NATO countries are sending thousands of soldiers in to Russian borders.
According to US Army Europe, 4,000 troops and 2,000 tanks will arrive in three US transport ships to Germany next weekend. From Bremerhaven, US troops and huge amount of military material, will be transported to Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

USA is sending to Russian borders 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. Overall, more than 2,500 pieces of cargo are shipped to Germany, where those will be unloaded in the period January 6-8. US military material and troops will continue to Poland by rail and military convoy’s. Massive US military deployment should be ready by January 20.

“Some 900 cars with military materiel will be transported by train from Bremerhaven to Poland. There are also about 600 pieces of freight that will be transported by train to Poland from the military training ground at Bergen-Hohne. Nearly 40 vehicles will travel directly by road from Bremerhaven to Poland,” told Bundeswehr press office.

“Three years after the last American tanks left the continent, we need to get them back,” said Lieutenant General Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of US forces in Europe.

He made the statement during a visit to the Logistics School of the Bundeswehr in Garlstedt, Lower Saxony. He told journalists that the measures were a “response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea.”

While NATO is preparing for war against Russia, Hodges turned everything upside down and accused Russia of preparing for war. “This does not mean that there necessarily has to be a war, none of this is inevitable, but Moscow is preparing for the possibility,” Hodges said.

In the dangerous escalation against nuclear-armed Russia, which poses the danger of a third world war, the German Bundeswehr is playing a central role. “Without the support of the [German] Army, we can go nowhere,” Hodges said during an appearance at the Joint Support Service of the Bundeswehr.

Germany, which rolled over Eastern Europe in its war of extermination 75 years ago, is preparing to send combat troops to the Baltics. In January, 26 tanks, 100 other vehicles and 120 containers will be transported by train to Lithuania. Germany will send the 122nd Infantry Battalion.

Read also: US sends 1,600 tanks to Netherlands

At the same time total of 1,600 US fighting vehicles are due to be stored at a six-warehouse complex in the southeastern village of Eygelshoven, near the Belgian and German borders. The Eygelshoven facility was originally opened in 1985 during the Cold War, when it was used by US troops to practice drills in case of a possible Soviet attack, wrote RT News.

Abrams Tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Paladin artillery have already started arriving in what is part of a $3.4 billion Congress-approved scheme to increase NATO military capability in Europe. Storage sites are also planned to be reopened in Poland, Belgium and Germany.

DONi News Agency

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

Clare Hollingworth: British war correspondent dies aged 105
10 January 2017
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38573643
Clare Hollingworth, the veteran British war correspondent who broke the news of the Nazi invasion of Poland, has died in Hong Kong at the age of 105.
Hollingworth, who was born in Leicester in 1911, was the first to report on the invasion that triggered the outbreak of World War Two.
She went on to report from Vietnam, Algeria and the Middle East.
Hollingworth was a rookie reporter for the Daily Telegraph when she fell upon "the scoop of the century".
It was she who spotted German forces amassed on the Polish border while travelling from Poland to Germany in 1939.
The Daily Telegraph headline read: "1,000 tanks massed on Polish border. Ten divisions reported ready for swift strike" - but it did not carry her byline, a common practice for newspapers at the time.
She scored another scoop when the Nazis launched their invasion three days later....

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

US tanks and troops in Poland a threat, Russia says
12 January 2017
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/38592448

Image caption Tanks and other equipment began arriving in Germany last week and are being moved to Eastern Europe
Russia says it views the arrival of more than 3,000 US soldiers in Poland as a threat to its own security.

The troops are part of President Barack Obama's response to reassure Nato allies concerned about a more aggressive Russia.

It is the largest US military reinforcement of Europe in decades.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the BBC that the move "threatens our interests and our security".

"It's a third country that is building up its military presence on our borders in Europe," he said. "It isn't even a European country."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Mechkov called the deployment a "factor destabilising European security".

Poland's Undersecretary of State for Defence Tomasz Szatkowski said the deployment was necessary because of Russia's "large exercises" next to its border and its "aggressive actions in our vicinity - I mean Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea".

Trump factor

More than 80 main battle tanks and hundreds of armoured vehicles have already arrived in Germany and are now being moved into eastern Europe by road and rail.

Welcoming ceremony in Olszyna, Poland, 12 Jan
Image caption The plan is to rotate the forces every nine months
Part of the US force entered at Poland's Olszyna border crossing with Germany on Thursday.

The plan is to rotate the forces every nine months. Other nations involved in the rotation are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

The US Armoured Brigade will also carry out military exercises in the Baltics, all part of President Obama's response to Russia's intervention in Ukraine and to reassure nervous Nato allies.

Last October, Russia sent nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to its exclave of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, followed a month later by Bastion anti-ship missile launchers.

The arrival of the US forces in eastern Europe comes just days before the inauguration of Donald Trump, who has signalled he wants to improve relations with Moscow.

The election of Mr Trump has raised questions as to whether this heightened US military posture will continue, BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale reports from Poland.

Mr Trump's nomination for defence secretary - Gen James Mattis - is likely to be asked about the new administration's attitude to Russia in his Senate confirmation hearing later on Thursday.

[TonyGosling]

Donald Trump's cordial tone towards Russia contrasts with many of his nominees including Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo, and James Mattis.
http://www.wsj.com/video/cabinet-nominees-split-with-trump-on-russia/F 9B86E40-9767-4A0F-A660-B740A353998E.html