NATO troops mobilize near Russia in biggest military build-up since Cold War - Polidicks

[quote]Britain said on Wednesday it will send fighter jets to Romania next year and the United States promised troops, tanks and artillery to Poland in NATO's biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War. Germany, Canada and other NATO allies also pledged forces at a defense ministers meeting in Brussels on the same day two Russian warships armed with cruise missiles entered the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Denmark, underscoring East-West tensions. In Madrid, the foreign ministry said Russia had withdrawn a request to refuel three warships in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta after NATO allies said they could be used to target civilians in Syria. The ships were part of an eight-ship carrier battle group - including Russia's sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov - that is expected to join around 10 other Russian vessels already off the Syrian coast, diplomats said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the troop contributions to a new 4,000-strong force in the Baltics and eastern Europe were a measured response to what the alliance believes are some 330,000 Russian troops stationed on Russia's western flank near Moscow. "This month alone, Russia has deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad and suspended a weapons-grade plutonium agreement with the United States," Stoltenberg said, also accusing Russia of continued support for rebels in Ukraine. Those ballistic missiles can hit targets across Poland and the Baltics, although NATO officials declined to say if Russia had moved nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. NATO's aim is to make good on a July promise by NATO leaders to deter Russia in Europe's ex-Soviet states, after Moscow orchestrated the annexation of the Crimea peninsula in 2014. NATO's plan is to set up four battle groups with a total of some 4,000 troops from early next year, backed by a 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force, and if need be, follow-on forces.[/quote] [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-russia-idUSKCN12P31W[/url] [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nato-prepares-to-station-thousands-more-troops-on-russian-border-a7380666.html[/url]

Cold War 2: War Colder

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;51265266]Cold War 2: War Colder[/QUOTE] More like The Somewhat Chilly War

[QUOTE=Mort Stroodle;51265266]Cold War 2: War Colder[/QUOTE] So Cold it's time for Ice Cream and Nuclear Paranoia

Don't they mean "Whats left of the British military".

America (and western Europe) has been experiencing blowback for global meddling for a while now, I wonder when it's going to hit Russia with all their recent moves.

Coldwar 2: Electric Boogaloo

[QUOTE=shadowboy303;51265279]Don't they mean "Whats left of the British military".[/QUOTE] Lower regular numbers are bolstered by larger reservist numbers, keeping a large standing professional army isn't good for an island nation with no real threat of invasion.

Russia is countering this by adding more ships to the Baltic Fleet [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-defence-baltic-sweden-idUSKCN12Q1HB[/url]

[url]http://defconwarningsystem.com/[/url] We're at Defcon 4 so there shouldn't be any issues soon. Right?...

[QUOTE=RAG Frag;51265637]America (and western Europe) has been experiencing blowback for global meddling for a while now, I wonder when it's going to hit Russia with all their recent moves.[/QUOTE] Russia has repeatedly gone to war with their neighbors who have ended up with less territory than they started with. Georgia and Ukraine are very familiar with this.

We are three minutes to midnight, and cradle back and forth from DEFCON 4 to DEFCON 3. Gotta love how the world is sliding back into warhawking.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51267288]We are three minutes to midnight, and cradle back and forth from DEFCON 4 to DEFCON 3. Gotta love how the world is sliding back into warhawking.[/QUOTE] No, we're at DEFCON 4. We've only been to DEFCON 3 three times, most recently being the 9/11 attacks. [editline]27th October 2016[/editline] I should clarify that DEFCON isn't an early warning system, but an alertness system. DEFCON is the level of preparedness of the US Military.

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;51267288]We are three minutes to midnight, and cradle back and forth from DEFCON 4 to DEFCON 3. Gotta love how the world is sliding back into warhawking.[/QUOTE] "It is not affiliated with any government agency and does not represent the alert status of any military branch. The public should make their own evaluations and not rely on the DEFCON Warning System for any strategic planning", It's just some shitty public version.

[QUOTE=meatwad253;51267218][url]http://defconwarningsystem.com/[/url] We're at Defcon 4 so there shouldn't be any issues soon. Right?...[/QUOTE] The website is not official and the alert state is set by the guy that maintains the website, the website links to tinfoil hat nutcase websites and to christian church stuff and other bullshit.

[quote]Their economy is fundamentally broken, their society is dominated by criminal groups, their people have a terrible reputation around the world, etc. Their military has modernized and become somewhat less dysfunctional in recent years but there is no way they could sustain a significant armed conflict for very long. All they really have is swagger and that's largely been backfiring on them because the fear of becoming the next Ukraine is driving most of their potential allies even further away. As China has demonstrated in recent decades, global influence in this era is primarily gained through economic means. All Russia has succeeded at through this new Cold War is further isolation from potential allies, greater motivation for its enemies to act against it, an even more broken economy, and the pointless designation of Crimea as Russian territory. In attempting to regain global influence through this new Cold War, Russia has instead made its situation even worse.[/quote] A comment I saw somewhere that seems relevant to the news

[QUOTE=NeverGoWest;51267458]The website is not official and the alert state is set by the guy that maintains the website, the website links to tinfoil hat nutcase websites and to christian church stuff and other bullshit.[/QUOTE] The official defcon status isn't published.

I'm confused. They are massing troops on the Russian boarder. Why not just like win the Ukrainian civil war and begin to stabilize that region after all the Russian buildup in that area is directly linked to that war.

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;51267941]I'm confused. They are massing troops on the Russian boarder. Why not just like win the Ukrainian civil war and begin to stabilize that region after all the Russian buildup in that area is directly linked to that war.[/QUOTE] because ukraine isn't a NATO country, and even if it was I doubt NATO would get involved in an "internal affair"

[QUOTE=Sims_doc;51267941]I'm confused. They are massing troops on the Russian boarder. Why not just like win the Ukrainian civil war and begin to stabilize that region after all the Russian buildup in that area is directly linked to that war.[/QUOTE] If we directly sent troops to ukraine its very probable that Russia would respond with Military action against NATO forces, Thus starting WW3. The most we can do for Ukraine is send whatever equipment they need to win the war

[QUOTE=Native Hunter;51268031]If we directly sent troops to ukraine its very probable that Russia would respond with Military action against NATO forces, Thus starting WW3. The most we can do for Ukraine is send whatever equipment they need to win the war[/QUOTE] The idea of NATO sending armed forces into eastern Ukraine is absolutely fucking ridiculous, whats even more ridiculous is that Russia would start WW3 over eastern Ukraine. These news aren't that surprising, regular troop rotations and that's it.

It's funny how people think it would be world war three, a conflict contained to European Russia and perhaps vladivostok is hardly a world war

[QUOTE=Native Hunter;51268031]If we directly sent troops to ukraine its very probable that Russia would respond with Military action against NATO forces, Thus starting WW3. The most we can do for Ukraine is send whatever equipment they need to win the war[/QUOTE] Then you ask the Russians if they would like to help and make your enemy your friend.

[QUOTE=Mallow234;51268132]It's funny how people think it would be world war three, a conflict contained to European Russia and perhaps vladivostok is hardly a world war[/QUOTE] Not true, an attack on a NATO member is an attack on everyone and would draw many countries into the war. See Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan for example

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;51268204]Not true, an attack on a NATO member is an attack on everyone and would draw many countries into the war. See Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan for example[/QUOTE] Who the hell would side with Russia against NATO, besides North Korea and Russian unrecognised puppet states?

[QUOTE=CroGamer002;51268220]Who the hell would side with Russia against NATO, besides North Korea and Russian unrecognised puppet states?[/QUOTE] Heh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia won't join anything, they're not suicidal. They'll immediately ask UN to recognize their neutrality.

[QUOTE=gudman;51268257]Heh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia won't join anything, they're not suicidal. They'll immediately ask UN to recognize their neutrality.[/QUOTE] UN would reject that request.

always funny that Russia does 'training ops with 50000 men' and media aren't going crazy over it why ? because they do it all the time in various areas of Russia for years when NATO does 500-5000 men training operation it's all of sudden something ? it's sensation journalism actually backfiring ... both sides need to know they can't fight each other, it's waste of resources and real enemies are lurking nearby hoping for that

[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;51265867]Lower regular numbers are bolstered by larger reservist numbers, keeping a large standing professional army isn't good for an island nation with no real threat of invasion.[/QUOTE] I guess that can be said when your island is a few rocks.. we'd need a defence force the size of the US to even come close to maintaining militaristic sovereignty of Australia.

[QUOTE=Dwarden;51268360]always funny that Russia does 'training ops with 50000 men' and media aren't going crazy over it why ? because they do it all the time in various areas of Russia for years when NATO does 500-5000 men training operation it's all of sudden something ?[/QUOTE] dude any time a Russian farts the media goes nuts, what are you talking about?