Posted on 05/07/2016 12:36:14 PM PDT by Lorianne
The United States is for the first time shipping its tanks across the Black Sea for joint exercises with Georgia.
The U.S. Army's 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division loaded the tanks on to ferries in Varna, Bulgaria, in order to ship them to Batumi ahead of the second annual Noble Partner military exercises to be held later this month. The exercises will include 650 American troops, as well as 500 from Georgia and 150 from the United Kingdom.
Last year's Noble Partner (the first such exercise) was noteworthy for the fact that the U.S. shipped Bradley Fighting Vehicles across the Black Sea for the occasion. It was the first such movement of heavy U.S. materiel across the sea and was a vivid illustration of the U.S.'s ability to project power around Russia's periphery. This year's addition of tanks to the mix ups the stakes a little more.
Ahead of the tanks' arrival, a delegation of U.S. officers including the top army officer in Europe General Ben Hodges, visited Batumi to prepare. "We are here to look at port in Batumi to understand what is required to move equipment, how fast we can move equipment. So this is part of professional soldiers studying the logistics. But we also came here to demonstrate to Georgia... that we are committed to work with Georgia, to continue work improving interoperability," Hodges said, as reported by Georgia's Ministry of Defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurasianet.org ...
I wish they would indicate the country in the Caucasus instead of just Georgia.
I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more stories about Russian aircraft buzzing American naval ships.
We still have over 9 months of Obama left to go........
But it is a tank .....:o)
There is no US interest in Georgia.
None.
Not even a minor, oblique one.
Agreed, other than to tick Putin off.
And what is the overall plan here? For us to employ armor on the southern border of Russia? 20 miles from Beslan, 50 Miles from Grozny? We sure have a lot of money. To float a bunch of tanks to Georgia, to help those nutballs I guess, have a war with Russia?
They aren’t even NATO.
And people are mystified why fighter jets show up and act aggressive.
There’s pic two tanks on a ferry. 1/64 Armor
Ping
Two to one Odungo leaves the tanks behind......
Maybe that’s Obama’s plan. /tinfoil
Exercise dates 11-22 May
‘Using Georgia’s territory by NATO military servicemen is a provocative step that is aimed at undermining military-political situation in the region. Support from Washington to Tbilisi’s revanchist aspirations also promotes this,’ says the Russian Foreign Ministry.
putin should make a statement that the two cournties are much less likely to collide AND would defeat ISIS with trump as president.
i know, it sounds insane. But if brings 2 percent more into the fold, it’s worth it.
Probably should. I guess it’s about 8 months and 2 weeks until scheduled time for Obama to depart.
We may see anything between now and then. I think the situation is more critical than it has ever been.
I was noting how Georgia said war with Russia was coming very soon in 2008. Most blew it off. There was a news article on it.
And then, it came.
In 2007 while telling folks how screwed-up the economy was, and had been for a couple years, most blew it off. Then September, 2008 came. I had actually underestimated how bad the situation was, though I knew $150/bbl oil was beyond ridiculous.
I’m sure I miss a lot of times. I don’t trust Obama on anything. Not even to scoop ice cream.
“Only Russia should be allowed to deploy troops in foreign countries, whether they are welcome or not,” the Russian Foreign Ministry added.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.