Talking Points: Troop Deployments, Cold War Tensions
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Are we headed back to the days of the Cold War?
Just days after the White House announced 450 additional U.S. troops would be sent to Iraq, the Pentagon said it wants to deploy heavy weaponry and as many as 5,000 troops in Eastern Europe.
The Pentagon's proposal is aimed at preventing additional aggression by the Russian government of Vladimir Putin.
In the last year, Russia has annexed Crimea and is accused of intervening on behalf of pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine.
President Barrack Obama won election in 2008, promising to get a war-weary nation out of Afghanistan and Iraq.
But critics blame the U.S. for making too swift an exit in Iraq, leaving a power vacuum that contributed to the rapid rise of the Islamic State. With the 450 additional troops headed to Iraq, the U.S. will soon have nearly 4,000 service members stationed in that country.
Now the Pentagon wants to put 5,000 troops in Eastern Europe in countries like Latvia, Lithuania and even Poland. A stepped-up military presence in these open ended conflicts is prompting sharp debate.
Sen. Al Franken, who appeared on WCCO Sunday Morning, said the troop proposal is a message to the Russians, telling them "we are not going to sit idly by and let them do things like annex Crimea."
He added that U.S. troops would be welcomed in Eastern Europe.
"The proposal still needs approval from the Secretary of Defense and the White House," Franken said. "If it happens, it would mark the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that U.S. troops would be stationed there."
To see Esme Murphy's full interview with Sen. Al Franken, watch the video above.