As tensions have risen with regard to a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Joe Biden recently hinted that he was prepared to deploy additional U.S. military troops to Eastern Europe as a form of deterrence against the possibility of Russian aggression.
It would appear that Biden has followed through on that as the administration announced that the president had ordered the deployment of approximately 3,000 troops to three different European nations, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Around 2,000 of those troops will be sent from Ft. Bragg in North Carolina to Germany and Poland, while the other roughly 1,000 troops will be redeployed from Germany to Romania.
Additional U.S. troops headed to Eastern Europe
Politico reported that the 2,000 or so troops from Ft. Bragg are part of the 82nd Airborne Division, with the overwhelming majority of those troops — about 1,700 — headed to join the 4,000-plus other U.S. troops already deployed in Poland while the remainder will bolster the U.S. presence in Germany.
As for the 1,000 troops being reassigned from Germany to Romania, they are part of a special Styker squadron — a highly mobile and armored Cavalry unit — that will effectively double the U.S. military presence in that Eastern European nation.
The outlet noted that the deployment of these 3,000 troops is separate and apart from orders announced last week by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin placing approximately 8,500 other U.S. troops on standby and high alert for possible activation as part of a newly established but not yet activated 40,000-strong NATO Response Force.
Deployments are only “temporary,” but more could be announced in future
These new troop deployments were announced Wednesday morning and Department of Defense press secretary John Kirby fielded numerous questions on the subject during a press briefing that day.
Kirby repeatedly stressed that these deployments were “temporary” and that none of the troops sent to Europe — at least as of now — would be going to Ukraine or involved in any potential fighting between Ukraine and Russia, but rather was merely meant to bolster the defense of allied nations and send a message to Russia that the NATO alliance stood strong.
The press secretary also made it clear that the administration had not ruled out making additional troop movements if warranted, which could include further redeployments of units already in Europe or even sending more U.S. troops from American bases to the European theater.
Psaki smears those with questions about the necessity of deployments
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also took several questions on the news of the day during Wednesday’s press briefing, but as usual, she largely declined to provide any specific answers beyond her scripted talking points and repeatedly deferred questions back to the Defense Department.
She did, however, have some rather choice words for any Americans critical or skeptical of the purported need to rush U.S. troops headlong into a potential conflict flaring up between age-old rivals with limited U.S. interests in the outcome.
Psaki accused those who question the necessity of the deployments of “digesting Russian misinformation and parroting Russian talking points” and not being in alignment with “bipartisan American values” — which apparently means getting involved in conflicts between other rival foreign nations halfway around the globe.
