Even if these troops were sent there months ago, this is the first time they are publicly announcing it.
In response to the most urgent danger to European security since the end of World War II, we have moved swiftly with our allies to further unify and strengthen NATO. The Alliance has bolstered its defenses on the Eastern Flank. Meanwhile, the United States has deployed or extended more than 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe and forward-stationed the first permanent U.S. forces on NATO's Eastern Flank. NATO is more united than ever, and the U.S. commitment to defend every inch of allied territory remains ironclad.
This is an additional 20,000 to who's already there. You don't do that unless you are in War, or preparing for it.
You don't send 20,000 troops ANYWHERE unless you are preparing for War. And look at the very high tensions with Putin and NATO currently, he's not going to take that lightly. Look at all the previous wars [they] started...this is the exact same playbook they use right before the lid blows off.
They could have ten guys "forward-stationed" with NATO for all I can tell from this. How do you get he's now sending an additional 20K to Ukraine from what we're reading here?
Meanwhile, the United States has deployed or extended more than 20,000 additional U.S. forces to Europe and forward-stationed the first permanent U.S. forces on NATO's Eastern Flank.
Read it carefully, anon. This is Austin's anniversary statement which outlines what's been happening, from a military perspective, over the past year. Yes, 20K additional soldiers have been sent TO EUROPE over the past year AND the military has forward-stationed some permanent troops on NATO's flanks. It does not say that there are 20K new troops on those flanks. See my links in another comment, below, which discuss deployment.
And check back as OP u/BigMikesSaggyBaggins is searching for more deployment info. This is, obviously, extremely important to be keeping a finger on the pulse of this. OP was right to bring this forward as it could signal something nefarious and downright critical, but the cited tweet from War Monitor may have jumped the gun and sensationalized what was just a statement of strength. I don't know what's truly occuring, but it's important to read carefully what Austin actually said, specifically, and not take a leap over the precipice if we're not there yet.
Why would he even announce it in the first place if it's a nothingburger? You can say a "show of force" if you will, but at a minimum, the troops aren't going there to put up LGBTQAAN+/- flags everywhere (sadly I can see that happening as part of it lol).
It's an anniversary statement. "Since this conflict began a year ago, this is what we've done..." Like a military state-of-the-union yearly address. LOL on the flags. 😏
While true, refer back to my sending of additional 20,000 troops statement. It takes months for [their] major wars to be deemed official when the public hears about it.
We here know we're at war, the normies are still blind to it. It's now a matter of time for it to be officially announced.
I'm not saying we will see jets flying over today or tomorrow, but this is how wars begin. They slowly ramp it up to the public, and once everyone catches wind of what's going on, it's too late to stop...all out war has already began and no public backlash can stop it.
For them to have an official DoD statement showing we've sent at least 20,000 troops, that's on purpose.
20,000 troops is an extraordinarily small number of troops to move if you’re ramping up for a world war. 20,000 a week certainly wouldn’t even be close to enough.
Even if these troops were sent there months ago, this is the first time they are publicly announcing it.
This is an additional 20,000 to who's already there. You don't do that unless you are in War, or preparing for it.
See my edit. He's not even saying the 20K are at the Ukraine front, just that they're in Europe. How many soldiers do we normally have in Europe?
You don't send 20,000 troops ANYWHERE unless you are preparing for War. And look at the very high tensions with Putin and NATO currently, he's not going to take that lightly. Look at all the previous wars [they] started...this is the exact same playbook they use right before the lid blows off.
I’m confused what the plan is for both sides here though? I mean a kinetic war between these powers equates to millions of lives…
They could have ten guys "forward-stationed" with NATO for all I can tell from this. How do you get he's now sending an additional 20K to Ukraine from what we're reading here?
From here Probably
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3308639/statement-by-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-marking-one-year-since-rus/
Read it carefully, anon. This is Austin's anniversary statement which outlines what's been happening, from a military perspective, over the past year. Yes, 20K additional soldiers have been sent TO EUROPE over the past year AND the military has forward-stationed some permanent troops on NATO's flanks. It does not say that there are 20K new troops on those flanks. See my links in another comment, below, which discuss deployment.
And check back as OP u/BigMikesSaggyBaggins is searching for more deployment info. This is, obviously, extremely important to be keeping a finger on the pulse of this. OP was right to bring this forward as it could signal something nefarious and downright critical, but the cited tweet from War Monitor may have jumped the gun and sensationalized what was just a statement of strength. I don't know what's truly occuring, but it's important to read carefully what Austin actually said, specifically, and not take a leap over the precipice if we're not there yet.
Why would he even announce it in the first place if it's a nothingburger? You can say a "show of force" if you will, but at a minimum, the troops aren't going there to put up LGBTQAAN+/- flags everywhere (sadly I can see that happening as part of it lol).
It's an anniversary statement. "Since this conflict began a year ago, this is what we've done..." Like a military state-of-the-union yearly address. LOL on the flags. 😏
While true, refer back to my sending of additional 20,000 troops statement. It takes months for [their] major wars to be deemed official when the public hears about it.
We here know we're at war, the normies are still blind to it. It's now a matter of time for it to be officially announced.
I'm not saying we will see jets flying over today or tomorrow, but this is how wars begin. They slowly ramp it up to the public, and once everyone catches wind of what's going on, it's too late to stop...all out war has already began and no public backlash can stop it.
For them to have an official DoD statement showing we've sent at least 20,000 troops, that's on purpose.
20,000 troops is an extraordinarily small number of troops to move if you’re ramping up for a world war. 20,000 a week certainly wouldn’t even be close to enough.