#11
Trud-7
May 8, 2003
A YANKEE AT THE POLISH PRESIDENT'S COURT
United States plans to move Air Force bases from Germany to Poland
Author: military observer Sergei Ischenko
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

THE RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY IS SUSPICIOUS OF THE PENTAGON'S TRUE MOTIVES FOR RELOCATING 16 AIR BASES FROM GERMANY TO POLAND. EXPERTS SAY THAT FLIGHT TIME OF THE US AIR FORCE FROM POLAND TO SMOLENSK AND KALININGRAD WOULD BE DOWN TO AN ALARMING 15-30 MINUTES.

Cold War era confrontation is over, of course; now, when staff officers play with even the least likely scenarios for future wars, our armies are marked on the map as allies more often than potential enemies. All the same, the Kremlin greatly like to at least understand Washington's reasoning, the logic behind to part with quite a sizeable sum for a new airbase.

Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of the Defense Committee of the Duma, has an explanation. He does not think that appearance of the US Air Force in Poland will threaten Russia in any way and attributes it to internal discord in NATO over Iraq. Particularly the discord between the United States on the one hand and France and Germany on the other. According to Arbatov, the move is supposed to "punish Germany and encourage new loyal NATO members ready to follow the United States blindly, without even knowing its plans."

Poland supported George W. Bush politically and even sent a special forces detachment to fight near Umm Qasr. Warsaw probably expects a shower of dollars now. It will get the coveted dollars in the form of lease payments for the airfield. As for effectiveness of what Arbatov calls "Germany's punishment" - that is debatable. Millions of American dollars for the airfield do mean something for Warsaw, but Germany's fairly powerful economy is not going to collapse because the Pentagon relocates its sixteen bases.

Actually, Poland is not alone. Virtually all of Moscow's former allies in the Warsaw Pact are trying to curry favor with the Pentagon - as fervently as they once tried to appease Soviet generals. Some reports indicate that Bulgarian secret services are actively working against Russia in the interests of their new friends across the ocean. The Regional Information Center for Democratic Development in South- East Europe, established by the United States in Sofia, is operating full-time. Essentially, it is a convenient cover for the CIA and other NATO intelligence agencies. Coordination is provided by US ambassador to Bulgaria.

American KC-135 midair refuelling planes were moved to Sarafovo near Burgas for participation in the Iraq campaign. The airfield is quite convenient for the American reconnaissance planes flying regular missions along the borders of Russia nowadays. There are even the plans to build a new NATO ELINT center near Sarafovo.

NATO partners are active in nearby Romania as well. According to the BBC, the US Air Force plans to use the local Mikhail Kogalniceanu airfield and Konstanca port. Similar developments are reported with regard to former Soviet military objects in Hungary.

A source in the Russian Air Force told us: "The Americans are actively settling into the Eastern Europe theater of operations and moving their aircraft to the region." It is costing them billions. For what purpose? Whoever saw Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden in the vicinity? Or do Washington's plans include something else? (Translated by A. Ignatkin)

BACK TO THE TOP    #256 CONTENTS    NEXT ARTICLE