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| Europe |
| East Europe open to US troops |
| 2003-05-09 |
| The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Romania said they would welcome bases for US troops once they became full members of Nato. The two countries were among seven from eastern Europe unanimously approved for membership of the Atlantic alliance by the US Senate on Thursday. Gen James Jones, the new head of American troops in Europe, is in the process of re-evaluating the US's "footprint" in the region, and is expected to recommend that many of the 80,000 troops based in Germany be moved eastwards. Pentagon insiders have said that Bulgaria and Romania, with their ports on the Black Sea that were used during the Iraq war, are leading contenders. (con't see link) |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #5 Well, the Russia-France alliance might be stirring up fears in intervening lands, as laughable as it really sounds... As Hanson rightly points out, though, our basing should now be emphasizing political independence more than just location. How free are Bulgaria and Romania -- and any other countries -- going to be from French, Russian, and (like Turkey) internal pressures to restrict our base use and effectiveness? Poland already showed a bad sign yesterday. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-05-09 19:34:04 |
| #4 Florence. Or maybe Rome. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-09 13:57:28 |
| #3 I think sending NATO headquarters to Prague or Warsaw would be a bit much,and would make Russia very nervous. I think a better disposition would be to upper Italy. The thrust of NATO is more likely to be to the south (as a protection of NATO's southern flank against terrorism arising in Africa) or to the southeast, into the Middle East. I don't see Russia as a major problem in the forseeable future. At that, I still believe we should keep some troops in the northern NATO countries, just to remind those people that we are there to protect them. At the same time, relocating the majority of our resources south and east would be a good thing. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-09 12:44:45 |
| #2 Watch what happens Sunday the 18th of May. It is national elections in Belgium. If the existing government and their pro-French/German view of the world survives, I give NATO remaining there about 20% probability. Most likely destination would be Warsaw or Prague but I don't see it going East. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2003-05-09 09:21:26 |
| #1 This should happen. US troops in W. Europe are on holliday. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2003-05-09 11:05:18 |