ANALYSIS – Ever since President Trump withdrew nearly 10,000 U.S. troops from our ‘delinquent’ German ally, Poland has been at the forefront of any U.S. military repositioning in Europe. Trump sent many of those troops withdrawn from Germany to Poland.
Trump favored Poland and other new NATO members, and Poland was openly enthusiastic about Trump.
And as I argued back then, despite the howls and whining from partisan Democrat critics, Trump haters and misguided Cold War experts, this was a very good thing.
Since the Cold War ended and former European countries previously under Soviet domination, ‘New Europe,’ entered NATO, the front line shifted considerably east of Germany (Old Europe).
To the north are the vulnerable Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), and soon and farther north, Sweden and Finland will be joining NATO.
To the south, parts of Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania face Russia on land.
But at the center of the new front line is Poland.
The U.S. has around 11,000 troops based in Poland. And in the country’s east, the V Corps Forward Headquarters is being made “permanent.”
This will make the HQ the U.S. Army’s most easterly presence on NATO territory and the closest to Russia.
And now spurred by Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Poland, with a GDP still less than the big boys like Germany, France or the U.K., wants to become the most militarily powerful NATO member.
This can only happen with U.S. help.
And that help has already begun arriving in the forms of advanced heavy weapons like Patriot missile batteries, M1A2 tanks and even High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) artillery.
As The Washington Post reports:
It is part of a mammoth military spending spree spurred by the war in neighboring Ukraine. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak hopes the influx of arms will help build “the largest land force in Europe,” and he sees Warsaw signing billions in weapons contracts with U.S. suppliers.
“This modern weaponry will elevate our armed forces to a completely new level of defense capabilities,” Blaszczak said in a written interview with The Washington Post. With relations between Warsaw and Washington at a high when materiel can’t be manufactured in Poland, it’s only natural “we look at our closest ally,” he added.
As I predicted and promoted during the Trump term and beyond, ‘New Europe,’ and Poland in particular, would become far more important to NATO and the U.S. than the faded glories of Germany, France or even the U.K.
And The Washington Post (and Democrats like Biden) now agree:
The buying spree comes as Poland attempts to solidify a position as a leading pillar of European relations with the United States, with the war in Ukraine shifting the balance of political power in Europe further to the east. That was hammered home this week as Biden — who has yet to visit Paris or Berlin during his term — made his second visit to Warsaw since the war began.
Despite being kept from $37 billion in European Union (EU) ‘pandemic relief’ cash due to its alleged democratic backsliding (some call it defending its culture and national interests), Poland is now claiming its place at the center of European security, buttressed by its long-standing skepticism toward Moscow, and a lot of U.S. weapons.
And Poland is putting its money where its mouth is by sharply raising its cut of gross domestic product spent on defense to 4%, double the NATO minimum, and far higher than Germany, who is consistently well below the 2% requirement.
Without providing a timeline, Blaszczak said Poland’s aim to double the size of the military to 300,000 troops is “within reach and realistic.”
All this has a cost, and Poland isn’t yet as rich as its bigger neighbor to the west, but the U.S. is helping with that as well.
Congress recently approved $288.6 million in military financing for Poland to “deter and defend” against the increased threat from Russia.
This is a relatively small amount, but with more financing like this, and its own relentless economic growth, Poland can continue on its path to having the most powerful (non-nuclear) army in Europe.
And the more Europe, especially ‘New Europe,’ takes on responsibility for defending itself against Russia, the more the U.S. is able to disengage and focus on the far greater threat of looming war with communist China to the East.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Awesome a new ally for the US
This was predicted in the book “The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century” by George Friedman. Worth the read.
The Poles are a proud and freedom-loving people. They suffered for decades under Soviet tyranny and earlier, under brutal Anschluss into Russia’s czarist empire. They well understand the claws, the crushing embraces and tricks of the Russian bear.