Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Team Obama on Tippy-Toes as it tries to Help Ukraine and reassure Allies without riling Russia

Seeking to demonstrate strong American support for Ukraine, U.S. military planners considered using Air Force planes to ferry food rations to outnumbered and underequipped Ukrainian troops facing superior Russian forces across the border. 
Pentagon leaders settled instead for a less-conspicuous operation: They sent the promised meals-ready-to-eat, or MREs, in commercial trucks from storehouses in Germany.
The episode illustrates the forces confronting the Obama administration as it tries to showcase its support for Ukraine's new leaders. The U.S. doesn't want to embolden them to act more aggressively or give Russia a pretext to seize more Ukrainian territory, having already taken Crimea last month. 
The same quandary is playing out again as the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization struggle over how to reassure nervous allies in Eastern Europe without exacerbating the tension with Moscow.
The Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, has submitted his recommendations for the alliance's military posture to NATO defense ministers, according to a spokesman. 
The options for the U.S., according to U.S. officials briefed on the internal discussions, include expanding the number of F-16 fighters based in Poland to 18 from 12.
The U.S. could also temporarily position small units of up to 200 troops each from the Italy-based 173rd Infantry Division in Eastern European countries, and send a modest number of additional U.S. military planes to bases in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. There are currently 10 F-15s in the Baltics, but their mission is due to end in May.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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