As many United States troops have deployed to Poland and are lining up along the border with Russia, we wonder just how close to war we are with the communist nation.
- Is this a revenge tactic of President Obama for what is being said about Russian “hacking” into the United States election system?
- Are we allowing NATO to tell us how to manage our military?
- Will Russia allow this massive surge in troops along their border?
Is war with Russia a good possibility?
Could we actually win?
And we wonder, how will President Trump handle this situation?
“We perceive it as a threat. These actions threaten our interests, our security. Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders. It’s the U.S., not even a European state.” Dmitry Peskov – Spokesman for Vladimir Putin
Why is the United States sending 4,000 troops to Poland?
To answer the first question, is this an Obama revenge tactic, I must say that I truly doubt that it is.
It may be perceived as such, but when we look at a complete picture, we see that Russia has been the bully of Europe.
Russia is trying to completely break NATO.
When Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine back in 2014, tensions rose in Eastern Europe.
United States allies have requested U.S. military presence believing that if it is so, the odds of Russian troops trying to “grab” more territory is less likely.
But, is this wise?
There are many opinions, with one of the biggest being, why is the United States acting like the world’s police force?
But, Poland and other U.S. friends have asked for our help.
Is it right to say no?
What will the new administration do and what is their opinions?
This deployment will not just have United States troops in Poland; they will be spread out in other border countries such as:
- Estonia
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- and others
Troops were not going to be sent until after Donald Trump is inducted into the Presidency, but many believe that President Obama moved the deployment up to make sure that Trump does not have an easy time pulling it back.
Trump has said that he would rather work with Putin instead of confronting him, but those were statements during his Presidential campaign.
By choosing Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, who are in line with confronting Putin, it is believed Trump will leave the troops in Eastern Europe.
“Since Russia is flexing their muscles, the U.S. must have a proportional show of force.” Rex Tillerson
“We must recognize that Vladimir Putin is trying to ‘break’ NATO.” James Mattis
“The United States is demonstrating its continued commitment to collective security through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America’s dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region in light of the Russian intervention in Ukraine.” Peter Cook – Pentagon Spokesman
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A time line of Russian aggression
There are many people who say that we should step back and let Russia do what they will.
Living in Puerto Rico, I often hear statements that Russia is just doing the same thing that the United States did with this small Caribbean country…
But???
Times have changed and there is a huge difference.
I normally keep my voice low here because there are those who believe the United States is “raping” Puerto Rico and I will not entirely disagree with that.
As a matter of fact, I wrote and published the book “The Rape of Puerto Rico,” but I also will say that if this country was independent, it would be in serious trouble.
Many of the people here are having great financial success because the U.S. is involved.
I doubt you would see that in Russian dominated countries.
Here is a brief time line to where we are today:
1994: Russia joins the NATO Partnership for Peace and then proceeds to start trying to retake the Republic of Chechnya.
1998: The NATO campaign in Yugoslavia is in direct opposition of Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and causes turmoil between the U.S. and Russia on foreign policy.
1999: Rebels from Chechnya invade Dagestan and Russian President Boris Yeltsin appoints Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister to achieve control in Dagestan.
Yeltsin soon resigns and Putin takes complete control.
2002: The U.S. and Russia agreed to nuclear arms reductions.
More rebels from Chechnya took control of a theater in Moscow and held over 700 people hostage.
Putin sent in Russian forces who killed all the rebels and over 100 hostages.
2003: Russia opens a military base is Kyrgyzstan to battle terrorism from Islamic extremists.
2004: Islamic extremists take a school in North Ossetia; over 350 people were killed with many of them being children.
2005: The Russian government agrees to help Iran develop nuclear energy (weapons???).
2006: Georgia joins NATO which causes a huge mess between Russia and Georgia.
2007: Russia claims much of the arctic including the North Pole is their territory, meaning a lot of oil.
Russia also withdraws from a 1990 treaty limiting arms deployment in Europe.
2008: Russia starts performing military exercises that come near the U.S. West coast.
Russia goes to war with Georgia over their NATO pact.
2009: Because of supposed non-payment, Russia shuts gas supply from Ukraine which causes chaos in Southeast Europe.
Obama visits Moscow and he and President Medvedev agree to nuclear arms reduction.
The U.S. puts off missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic which makes Russian government happy.
2011: With Putin back in the Presidency, both Russia and China veto UN resolutions on Syria supporting Assad.
2014: Russia invades Ukraine to take Crimea after Yanukovych was ousted; the West imposes sanctions on Russia for this move.
Malaysian Airlines 17 is shot down over Ukraine and Russia is blamed because they supplied the missiles; more sanctions are declared and it is harming Russia’s economy.
2015: Russia begins bombing flights on Syrian anti-Assad rebels; Russia claims they are bombing ISIS.
Turkey shoots down a Russian fighter plane causing Russia to impose sanctions on them.
And now here we are in early 2017 with what seems a fuse with a match lit just an inch away.
Donald Trump stated the U.S. needs to re-up its nuclear defenses and this has caused debate.
Is war with Russia imminent?
We hope not.
But, I believe we cannot stand idle and allow Russia to build and bully.
I don’t believe we should play the world police, but we do need to support our allies.
One thing I do believe is: no United States soldier should wear the United Nations helmets.
No U.S. soldier should be under UN orders.
By doing so, we are giving too much power to others on the operations of the United States military.
From Fort Carson to Germany to Poland
The troops sent were from the 3rd Armor Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division were deployed along with 144 armored vehicles and 87 tanks.
I would expect that we will see much movement by Russian forces too.
So who would win between the U.S. and Russia if war happens?
The answer is really quite simple… Nobody will win!
It could be devastating especially if one or the other decided to “push” a nuke button.
That would be death to nearly all with the U.S. having just under 2,000 nukes ready to deploy and Russia close to the same.
Many of those would explode in the sky, but the fallout would create a world of poison and I doubt much would survive.
Conventional war?
Overall, we are stronger in military power along with NATO, but Russia would have home-field advantage.
We would probably come victorious, but it would cost many lives.
The most probable war
Odds are, it will come down to how it has been for years, we will fund forces fighting Russia and Russia will fund forces fighting us.
It is called war by proxy.
So keep a close eye on Iran and even the possibility of Russia supporting North Korea.
And we will probably send arms to Ukraine and other forces battling Putin’s bullying tactics.
Final Thoughts
So what do you think?
Will we be facing war with Russia in the near future?
Personally, I doubt it, but we would like to know your opinions.
You can leave your comments and any questions below.
Thank you.
“Events in Ukraine happened with the participation of foreign states. American officials openly admit that they invested a lot of money to create such a situation.” Russian Senator Vyacheslav Shtyrov
“In recent months, President Putin has pulled out all the stops to coerce, intimidate and threaten Ukraine away from Europe… This pattern of behavior amounts to a Russian bid for a kind of quasi-imperial dominance over its neighbors, a new found assertiveness that has only grown in the void left by the administration’s absence of leadership in other parts of the world, especially Syria.” Senator John McCain
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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Quick fact check: in 2006 Georgia didn’t actually “join” NATO. They started on the process towards that goal. As long as Russia continues to occupy Georgian territory it is unlikely they will be able to join NATO now.
Thank you for clearing that Tom.