Why Eastern Europe is Forced to Purchase Obsolete US Weapons

Commenting on the recent calls of a US House Republican lawmaker to sell Eastern European allies American military equipment, Polish political analyst Tomasz Jankowski told Sputnik that the US wants all the Eastern European countries to become what Poland became long ago – a revenue supplier for the US military lobby.

On June 15, US House Republican lawmaker Paul Cook, a retired Marine Corps colonel, lamented that some members of the NATO alliance, namely Eastern European countries, are still dependent on Russia for military equipment for their air and ground forces, "which makes it harder for the US to count on them as allies."

During a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing, the California Republican urged the Trump administration to sell eastern European allies American military equipment that can replace the Russian weapons systems.

Paul Cook called the use of "Soviet-style" equipment a "complicating factor for US policy." He claimed it "leaves the Eastern European NATO allies vulnerable" to the so-called "Russian aggression," in addition to "complicating their efforts to fulfill President Trump's demand that they increase military spending."

Sputnik Polska discussed the issue with Tomasz Jankowski, an expert at the European Center for Geopolitical Analysis.

"It's a long-known open secret that every US president should get a blessing of the US military conglomerates during his presidential elections. With regards to NATO and other US' alliances, it is, in the first place, caused by the need to sell the US-made weapons," he told Sputnik.

The fact that the US' official circles are urging to sell the US-made weapons to its allies might signify the crisis in its military and defense industries, the political analyst added.

Until recently, he said, it had been done through trading and contracts on the principles of a free and open market. However the above calls of the high-profile politicians mean a direct pressure.

With regards to Poland, Tomasz Jankowski said with disappointment and certain irony, it has been long serving as a revenue supplier for the US military lobby and its military and defense industry.  He cited as an example the supplies of the US-made F-16 jets or Patriot missiles which Poland spends billions of US dollars on.

"Unfortunately, the majority of NATO member states will be forced to follow the Poland's route," he said.

The political analyst further explained that there does not exist any so-called "Russian threat", not least because nobody is able to point out a single place where Russians could really pose a threat to the US or its allies.  However the recent downing of the Syrian jet, the jet of Russia's ally, he said, proves quite the opposite: it is the US, not Russia, which is a provoking, aggressive party.

The anti-Russian propaganda is aimed at creation of an illusion of a threat to NATO as an argument to purchase the US-made weapons, the political analyst explained.

"In Poland, the society is being persuaded of a need to increase the spending on the army due to the alleged increased threat from Russia. However the huge part of this spending goes not on the modernization of the army, but on the purchase of the obsolete US' weapons, which the US no longer uses," Tomasz Jankowski said.

The US army, he said, no longer uses Patriot missiles. However it is of special benefit to the US' military conglomerates to sell it to someone, he finally stated.