US to station forces in Poland for first time

[dead0man]

The Pentagon said Wednesday it plans to send a US air force detachment to Poland to support fighter jets and transport planes, marking the first time that US soldiers have been stationed there.
The announcement was made at the end of talks between US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and his Polish counterpart Tomasz Siemoniak.
The detachment “will arrive this fall to support quarterly F-16 and C-130 deployments beginning in 2013 and will be the first US forces stationed on Polish soil,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement.

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[True Federalist]

The Russians are going to love this almost as much as Romney will.  One reason Mitt is stopping in Poland on his European Vacation is so as to complain that Obama is weak on the Russians.  Of course a cynical mind might think that at the very least the timing of announcing this, if not the decision itself, was made so as to cut off Romney's argument vis-a-vis Russia.

[Senator Clarence]

The Russians mess their drawers when a Navy vessel enters the Black Sea... this will not be taken well

[Vote UKIP!]

The Russians mess their drawers when a Navy vessel enters the Black Sea... this will not be taken well

[AkSaber]

Aye cirumba... when will this stop?

[Vosem]

And Obama signed a Senate bill increasing the amount of US funding to Israel's army.

Smart, Mr. President. Very smart.

[Free Palestine]

And Obama signed a Senate bill increasing the amount of US funding to Israel's army.

Smart, Mr. President. Very smart.

Ah yes, the economy is terrible and we're spending money on useless sh-t like this.  A very conservative thing to do, indeed.

[Vosem]

And Obama signed a Senate bill increasing the amount of US funding to Israel's army.

Smart, Mr. President. Very smart.

Ah yes, the economy is terrible and we're spending money on useless sh-t like this.  A very conservative thing to do, indeed.

Obama's focusing on his campaign -- this is what will get people voting for him, FP.

[patrick1]

The Russians mess their drawers when a Navy vessel enters the Black Sea... this will not be taken well

Too bad.  I think it is obvious now that the Russian state will be an adversary (hopefully a friendly-ish one) rather than an ally. They have no problems thwarting western policy in Libya, Syria, Iran etc..

[opebo]

...I think it is obvious now that the Russian state will be an adversary (hopefully a friendly-ish one) rather than an ally. They have no problems thwarting western policy in Libya, Syria, Iran etc..

Well that's a good thing anyway.

[Redalgo]

The States' aggressive posture and projection of influence in Eastern Europe is going to cause
easily avoidable tensions with Russia, whose accustomed sphere of regional influence we are
now settling into. That's not to say Russia should have troops in Poland of course, but can you
imagine how much Americans would wig out if Russia put boots on the ground, began to base aircraft, and had plans to eventually set up ABM sites in Canada and/or Mexico? Okay - I know
that wouldn't be exactly equivalent, of course - but you get the gist of what I mean here. Ya?

[© Tweed the Younger]

reading War & Peace right now, so involved in the personification of the life of the Society, vs. Napoleon who I would have supported, if the question makes sense... makes for a double nostalgia: Nostalgia for the time, no matter how "degenerated" it may have been, that we had an example of what came After History; and a nostalgia for the Natasha Rostovs and Pierre Bezhukovs and Constantine Levins and Alyosha and all that... both Russias are lost.

[London Man]

That's not to say Russia should have troops in Poland of course, but can you
imagine how much Americans would wig out if Russia put boots on the ground, began to base aircraft, and had plans to eventually set up ABM sites in Canada and/or Mexico? Okay - I know
that wouldn't be exactly equivalent, of course - but you get the gist of what I mean here. Ya?

That's unlikely ever to happen. Also an ABM site is no threat, while the US could comfortably deal with Russian fighters.

[Redalgo]

That's unlikely ever to happen. Also an ABM site is no threat, while the US could comfortably deal with Russian fighters.

Ya but, respectfully, that is aside from the point, which was to invoke the golden rule.

[Bacon King]

I wouldn't be too surprised if this ultimately symbolic gesture is actually being done with the tacit acceptance of Russia- remember Obama and Medvedev's "secret" remarks?

Then again, though, I've got no idea what Putin would get out of this, so maybe not.

[patrick1]

I wouldn't be too surprised if this ultimately symbolic gesture is actually being done with the tacit acceptance of Russia- remember Obama and Medvedev's "secret" remarks?

Then again, though, I've got no idea what Putin would get out of this, so maybe not.

Effective campaign rhetoric....

[SPC]

Good to see both political parties are vindicating the Iron Curtain.