NATO has a plan in place for rapid deployment of its forces in the scenario of a future Russian attack on Europe. It includes the development of "land corridors" which can be used to rush some 300,000 troops — mostly American soldiers — to front line positions in order to defend against a Russian invasion.
High-ranking British military sources described to the Telegraph that the plan entails troops landing at key European ports whereupon they would move east along pre-planned routes to counter potential Russian attacks.
Lt. Gen. Alexander Sollfrank, chief of NATO's Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), described to the UK publication, "Huge logistics bases, as we know them from Afghanistan and Iraq, are no longer possible because they will be attacked and destroyed very early on in a conflict situation."
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| Port of Rotterdam file image, identified as a key arrival point for US troops in event of major war in Europe. |
The logistics and troop transport corridors would originate in places like Greece, Italy, Turkey, The Netherlands, Norway - and the port of Rotterdam, a key northern European hub, is specifically named. Lines like the Germany-Poland railway are also mentioned in the report - all of which would theoretically allow rapid deployment of US forces to any NATO territory being threatened (based on Article 5 common defense).
Separate alarmist reports in UK media have been warning that the West should prepare for war with Russia at some point in the next two decades, connected with ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
For example, a prior March report in The Telegraph claimed that President Putin has a "paranoid obsession" with stoking conflict and provoking Western allies.
"Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured his historic fifth term in office, it is patently clear that he will devote his next six-year spell at the Kremlin to pursuing his paranoid obsession of confronting the West," that prior stated.
As for the Telegraph's latest Tuesday revelation of the NATO land corridors — with the somewhat loud and sensationalist headline of "Nato land corridors could rush US troops to front line in event of European war" — the reality is that big picture contingency plans like this have been on US and NATO planners' shelves since the Cold War.
But without doubt they are getting dusted off amid the continued escalation of the Ukraine proxy war...
BREAKING: NATO now planning to get US troops to the front-line to fight RUSSIA..
— Douglas Macgregor (@DougAMacgregor) June 4, 2024
What are they thinking?
NATO has disclosed its preparations to deploy American troops to the European frontlines in the event of a full-scale conflict with Russia.
Innovative 'land corridors'… pic.twitter.com/vmuMG1nCVH
According to some of the further planning details laid out by The Telegraph and its military sources:
If Nato forces entering from the Netherlands are hit by Russian bombardment, or northern European ports destroyed, the alliance is set to shift focus to ports in Italy, Greece and Turkey. From Italian ports, US troops could be carried via land through Slovenia, Croatia to Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine.
Similar plans exist to transport forces from Turkish and Greek ports through Bulgaria and Romania to reach the alliance’s eastern flank. Plans are also being drawn up to transport troops via ports in the Balkans, as well as through Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Lt Gen Sollfrank was further quoted as saying, "Ukraine suffers very much from these Russian long-range missile attacks on the logistic systems" - underscoring the importance of troop movements which would be out of reach of Russian systems.
The report includes visuals tracking 'land corridors' for Western troops en route to confront Russian forces in a future scenario...
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| Source: The Telegraph |
In the wake of the Telegraph report some pundits are saying this means WW3 is "starting now"... and while indeed at this point the world could already be witnessing the beginning phases (especially when historians look back), there's yet some escalatory steps remaining before missiles start flying over Europe. Hopefully saner minds prevail, even if at the last minute (though we don't have a lot of faith in this).