LONDON, February 16, 2003. /From RIA Novosti correspondent Sergey Kudasov/ -- The Pentagon works out plans concerning the dislocation of the deployed military bases in Germany close to the Russian borders. 42,000 US Military servicemen, 785 tanks, about 60 F-16 fighters and a squadron of A-10 anti-tank airplanes can be transferred on the territories of Poland, the Baltic States and Czech Republic.
The Pentagon plans were initialised last week upon the order of the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in order to "punish" Germany for its active role in contradicting the Washington's plans, concerning the war against Iraq, the British media reported.
According to the Pentagon, the dislocation of the US military bases will bear an impact of a blow to the German economy, which benefits millions of dollars from the US military presence in the country. "Our aim is to strike a blow to the German trade and commerce. We intend not only to move our army and logistics but also to dissolve all agreements and cancel all contracts concerning the defence issues", an anonymous source in the Pentagon disclosed to the British media.
In the opinion of the USA, the German example can teach a good lesson those countries, which are deeply involved in the trade relations with the USA, so that they in the future will think twice before opposing the US plans. In the opinion of Washington, the transfer of the US military bases on the territories of the East European countries, including the former Soviet Baltic republics, is a justifiable act, because they have been strongly supporting the US policy with regard to Saddam Hussein regime, the British media reported.