US military buildup in Europe, Asia dangerous policy: Analyst

The US military’s growing troop presence in eastern parts of Europe and Asia is a “very dangerous policy” intended to encircle Russia and China, an American writer and retired professor says.

“There’s no basis, no data, no documentation that indicates that Russia threatens any country in Eastern or Western Europe,” said James Petras, a professor emeritus of sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and adjunct professor at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada.

“This is part of the military strategy of the US of encircling and pressuring Russia and it’s very dangerous because now they are on the very frontiers of the Russian state,” Petras told Press TV on Thursday.

“This is also in line with Washington’s policy of encircling China,” he added. “We’re in a new phase of US military buildup which is very dangerous for world peace; it is a very dangerous policy because it calls into question the willingness of the United States to deal in a comprehensive way with security issues by military means instead of diplomacy.”

Washington will step up its troop presence in Eastern Europe in response to “an aggressive Russia” by deploying an additional armored brigade, the US Defense Department said Wednesday.

Continuous rotations of the brigade beginning in early 2017 will bring the US Army's presence in Europe to three fully manned combat brigades, the US European Command said.

An armored brigade comprises about 4,200 troops, approximately 250 tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Paladin self-propelled howitzers, plus 1,750 wheeled vehicles.

“This army implementation plan continues to demonstrate our strong and balanced approach to reassuring our NATO allies and partners in the wake of an aggressive Russia in Eastern Europe and elsewhere,” General Philip Breedlove, the top US commander in Europe, said in a statement.

“Our allies and partners will see more capability,” he added. “They will see a more frequent presence of an armored brigade with more modernized equipment in their countries.”

Last month, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter unveiled the Pentagon's proposed budget for next year, which includes $3.4 billion for operations in Europe - four times last year’s amount.

The US military has about 62,000 permanently assigned service members in Europe.

Russia has repeatedly warned against the permanent positioning of substantial forces from the US and NATO along its border.

The US and its allies accuse Moscow of supporting the Russian-speaking fighters in eastern Ukraine, and supplying their troops with military aid, reinforcements, and resources. The Kremlin denies the allegations.

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