US administration that will be out of office in Jan. 2017 promises $3.4 billion more US taxpayer dollars in 2017 to pay for military buildup and US soldiers in combat gear in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary as part of 'our role to play in deterring Russia.' Advocate apparently thinks US taxpayers are global slaves for endless foreign wars, that US taxpayers should finance 'a more permanent presence' in Eastern European countries-Mark Seip, War on the Rocks

3/11/16, "The Bear in the Room: The U.S.-Nordic Summit and Dealing with Russia," Mark Seip, War on the Rocks

"Deter and Assure"

"With the various defense relationships in mind, the United States and the Nordic states have a role to play in deterring Russia while assuring both themselves and others throughout the region. For the United States, Operation Atlantic Resolve is now in its third year, with ground forces rotating throughout the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as well as in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter recently announced a $3.4 billion plus-up of the European Reassurance Initiative in fiscal year 2017 for defense-related investments in eastern European allies and upgrading pre-positioned U.S. materiel.

More needs to be done, however, to bolster deterrence in the region. While a rotational brigade of U.S. soldiers and their combat gear is a start, it fails to match the considerable scale of Russia’s military assets in the western region and only reinforces a perception that regional security is a temporary concern to the United States. While going pound-for-pound numerically is not realistic, a more permanent presence in the region should be considered as part of making Russia recalculate the cost of its current aggressive actions and providing greater assurance to our allies and partners, including the Nordic states. With that, any such move would need a commensurate communications plan directed at Moscow, with the message that a bolstered U.S. presence is in reaction to this current aggression and will be readjusted if Russian leadership returns to a more constructive relationship with its neighbors."...

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