American soldiers are once again being called upon to be ready for war, this time their deployment will take them to Eastern Europe, rather than the Middle East. Russia continues to exert its power in the region and continues to promote unrest, arming rebels with sophisticated weapon technology, etc. After capturing and absorbing the Crimea Peninsula into the Russian Empire, President Putin has continued westward with Ukraine. After nearly a year of fighting in Ukraine, the shooting down of passenger plane Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, Putin continues to supply weapons to Russian rebels and amass a massive force on Russia’s border with other Baltic states such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.
Russia: Western sanctions continue to fail to deter Putin
American and European officials have applied crippling sanctions against Russia over the past year since the Crimea issue began. Combine very tough sanctions with a crashing oil and Russia’s economy should flop over right? Not quite. While the economic conditions in Russia are very bleak and continue to show signs of destabilization, they still have not deterred President Putin from continuing his campaign in Ukraine and in the region. Now, the West has only one last option left in the hopes of stopping Putin: military buildup.
American Paratroopers arrive in Ukraine for training and assistance
In the face of limited options left, American officials have turned to military might as the last resort to stop Russian advance. President Obama and authorized scores of infantry, armored vehicles, tanks, etc to the region as a show of force and message that NATO members will be protected from Russian threat. The next piece of the puzzle just fell: US Army Europe commander Lt. General Ben Hodges announced that paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Division have parachuted into Bulgaria and Romania in an move known as Operation Atlantic Resolve. Lt. General Hodges also said that US military units will slowly begin to move from Germany, Italy, Spain, etc towards Eastern Europe to bolster forces in the region. Additionally, Hodges told the press that this is the “new normal” and that US units could expect to remain in place throughout Eastern Europe throughout 2016.
In short, we are certainly moving towards the ultimate ultimatum. Sanctions and economic consequences have not been enough to stop the threat and now the world inches closer and closer to a “World War 3” type scenario. Meanwhile, President Obama stopped the troop drawdown in Afghanistan and American military operations still continue in Iraq. Since the start of the new millennium, the US has relied very heavily on our military with various conflicts throughout the Middle East and now a new evil has reared its head.
