The Pentagon is planning to pull billions of dollars from a slush fund earmarked for the war on terror to finance a major mobilization of tanks, troops and arms near the Russian border, as part of NATO’s largest military buildup in eastern Europe since the Cold War.
The plan underscores the role the war on terror plays in setting up a funding infrastructure that allows the Pentagon to sidestep budget caps and political debate to pursue military campaigns across the globe.
“We are contributing a persistent rotational armored brigade combat team,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter told reporters in Brussels last week. This mobilization includes “an armored brigade combat team’s worth of equipment in Europe in addition to two brigades already in Europe,” the Department of Defense clarified in a press statement, noting that the developments are part of the “European Reassurance Initiative” (ERI).