Obama’s Plan to Send New Arms to Europe Isn’t Enough

July 3, 2015 (NATIONALREVIEW) “We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia. We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake: We will defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future it affords us all.”

So said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on June 22. Secretary Carter is on a dual-focus mission in Europe: He wants to deter Russian president Vladimir Putin from further military adventures, and to reassure American allies that President Obama is committed to NATO. Pursuing those ends, he outlined how the U.S. military will contribute to NATO’s new “Very High Readiness Joint Task Force” (VJTF). While America’s exact contribution to the VJTF isn’t yet clear, it will involve aviation-lift capabilities (which EU nations sorely lack), intelligence-gathering platforms (which EU nations sorely lack), navy and air-force assets (which EU nations sorely lack), and special-operations forces (which most EU nations sorely lack).

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420162/nato-very-high-readiness-joint-task-force-inadequate