U.S. Caught Off Guard Over Halted Troop Move to Poland

(MENAFN) According to a media outlet, Pentagon officials were not briefed ahead of a decision to stop the deployment of 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland. A U.S. official said, “We had no idea this was coming,” adding that American and European officials spent the past day in calls trying to understand the move and whether more unexpected decisions could follow.

The situation follows a report from The Wall Street Journal stating that a planned rotation of over 4,000 U.S. troops to Poland was paused, even though some troops and equipment were already en route to Europe.

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army forces in Europe, said the military presence "is all about deterring the Russians, protecting America’s strategic interests and assuring allies." He added that "Now a very important asset that was coming to be part of that deterrence is gone," and noted Poland’s cooperation with Washington, saying: "They do all the things that good allies are supposed to do … And yet, this happens.”

Former Finnish official Joel Linnainmaki called the decision a "major challenge" for European security and "a severely disrupting way of shifting responsibility to Europeans." He warned, “For allies next to Russia it will have to change their calculus,” pointing to possible strategic consequences.

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