By Making Russia a Threat ‘US Military Gets More Money’ From Taxpayers

Washington is planning to quadruple its military spending to counter Russia’s alleged threat in Europe. The initiative is estimated to cost US taxpayers 3.4 billion dollars. Radio Sputnik discussed the issue with Dr. Martin McCauley, political analyst and senior lecturer at the University of London on Eastern Europe.

“This is nothing new, this number has been brought up before, 3.4 billion dollars with which they want to put a brigade in Europe which will be rotated. This all has been in the public domain for quite some time so therefore, one would expect that it did go through because it doesn’t seem like there is much opposition to it because it has been well talked about,” McCauley said.

The analyst further said that, “the feeling in Washington among the military, which is part of the military industrial complex, is that they want more money for defense every year and therefore they have to ground this in threat and the threat is viewed coming from Moscow.”

“In the American military doctrine for this year Russia comes top from the point of view of a security threat. Everyone knows that it is China but they put Russia in the top making it seem that America has to respond to that and every time America responds to that, Russia has to respond as well.”

Hence, this forms a military standoff in which both the sides can end up facing dire consequences.

Talking about the anti-Russian initiative in Europe, the analyst said that it is actually a cover up because in reality the US is trying to compete with the Chinese.

“America doesn’t have enough ships or enough personnel to counter the Chinese presence, so in the long run the US knows that they have to build a stronger navy.”

The analyst further said that, “It is a situation in which the politicians will prime the population to believe that Russia is a threat knowing that if you increase military budget then it could be used for other things.”

According to the US newspaper The Hill citing the Pentagon draft budget for 2017, the issue is due to be discussed on Wednesday during the US House Armed Committee’s meeting.

The Hill also quoted Adam Smith, a ranking member of the committee, as saying that the US wants to station troops in various parts of Eastern Europe to show support for its allies that are worried about the Russian threat.

Smith also added that the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act will be mainly focused on ways to deter Russia.