Maybe I’ve missed it as I keep hearing about ONLY the US negotiating with Iran, but what about other countries which have a lot at stake here? (Not that world opinion has ever stopped the US from proceeding with its agenda.)
Foremost on my mind is Russia. I am sure this is on Putin’s mind and is not going to sit back and wait. Perhaps this explains the “showboating” in Ukraine - which has now escalated enough to spark the US to arm Eastern Europe as the national news reports this morning. It’s like the Iron Curtain in reverse for a balance of power. Your thoughts?
Other major powers, including Russia, have been involved with the talks. The April 2nd accord included the “P5+1” powers plus representatives of the EU as a whole. It’s just the current round of talks that are US-Iran only.
RNATB covered that it’s really been a multinational effort for most of the negotiations.
“Arm Eastern Europe” paints a different picture than what the news is. Our NATO allies in Eastern Europe are armed, trained, and had to meet NATO standards during the admissions process before they were granted membership. This isn’t equipment for them to use. It’s US equipment, intended to be used by US troops being pre-positioned on the territory of allies that we have a commitment to defend. During the Cold War we had significant ground forces along with pre-positioned equipment (and they tested reinforcement in the REFORGER (REturn of FORces to GERmany) exercises held annually.)
Right now, we’re a bit player on the ground if it came to the defense of European NATO allies. We have less land combat power in Europe than the active duty forces of the Baltic republics. We have no pre-positioned equipment. We have 1 Airborne Infantry Brigade and on Stryker Brigade on the ground (in Germany and Italy respectively). We don’t have heavy ground forces in Europe. Quick reinforcement on the ground would mean flying light infantry forces over for what could be a predominantly mobile and mechanized fight. Pre-positioning equipment allows us to reinforce quickly with heavy forces. That’s what the new is. It’s not arming them. It’s saying we’ll be there in a meaningful way if the fight comes instead of 3 months later.