US troops have been stationed in Ukraine since 2015 apparently. And now 200 NY Guard troops are scheduled to be deployed to Ukraine as "trainers" beginning in October.

More than 200 soldiers in a New York Army National Guard until will head to Europe in October for a nine-month mission to train Ukrainian forces. The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs says Tuesday that most of the Guardsmen are members of the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry based at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

This is in addition to US troops stained in Poland, the Baltic states and Romania. Joint military exercises involving the US and 23 other countries are underway this summer, with eighteen of them "in the Black Sea region" alone. Consider this recent report from NPR:

The U.S. and NATO are staging their largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, and they're doing it in countries of 3 former members of the Warsaw Pact: Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. [...] ... This is part of a reinforcement of American power in Eastern Europe that began under the Obama administration. NPR's David Welna has been watching this. He's in Bucharest, Romania. And, David, I mean literally watching this. You saw some of these war games happening, right? DAVID WELNA, BYLINE: Yes, I did. This is all part of what's been called the European Deterrence Initiative, and it's a reinforcement of U.S. forces that had been depleted in Eastern Europe before Russia annexed Crimea three years ago. And as part of this sort of hardening of the U.S. presence here, there was an armored combat brigade team of about 4,000 Army troops from Fort Carson, Colo., that arrived here in Eastern Europe early this year. And they're here in Romania, and they're taking part in military exercises along with about 20,000 other troops. On Saturday, I was in the Carpathian Mountains, and I watched a pretty impressive live fire, land and air assault there on an imagined enemy. And then yesterday, along the banks of the Danube River here, there was another assault staged to retake the other side of the river from another imagined enemy.

The "imagined enemy is, of course Russia, as David Welama, the NPR reporter on the scene readily admits further on in his interview with NPR host, David Green. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe, spoke about these "exercises," which are supposedly for the sole purpose of reassuring our allies that border Russia, on Tuesday:

U.S. military leaders do not expect an imminent invasion, but they understand why countries along the Russian border are jittery. These exercises should help them prepare to fight back if and when Russia threatens them, said Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe. “I don’t think that’s likely to happen, but it has happened,” Hodges said. “And certainly anyone who lives close to that area, from Finland and Sweden all the way down to Romania, believes it is possible.”

In the largest exercise, called "Saber Guardian," involves 14,000 US forces. A joint Naval exercise, named "Sea Breeze" is being co-hosted by the US military and Ukraine, and involves simulated "maritime interdiction operations, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, damage control tactics, search and rescue, and amphibious warfare." General Hodges, naturally, asserts that these massive and expensive war games should not be considered as "provocative act" but only as a means of "deterrence." His comments seem to contrast with those made by other US commanders involved in these non-provocative actions, however.

The U.S. Army Europe-led Saber Guardian exercise is pulling together more than 25,000 troops from 25 nations, and on Saturday some of those forces showcased their firepower before a crowd of military brass. After 15 years in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S Army needs to make sure its troops can also fight against more technologically advanced forces, said Gen. James McConville, vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army. “We saw tanks, and we saw Apache helicopters,” McConville said in an interview with Stars and Stripes. “We saw combined operations. And for some types of adversaries that’s a good capability to have.” [...] Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, a unit on rotation from Fort Carson, Colo., provided the ground firepower. Spc. Martin Juarez, a soldier with the 3rd Armored Brigade, said the hardest part of his 9-month deployment to Eastern Europe — set to end in late September — is the family separation. The upside, he said, is the many opportunities to fire on ranges in countries he never thought he’d see. Six months into its rotation, Juarez’s brigade has fired more than 1 million rounds of ammunition. “It’s a lot of good training,” Juarez said.

What seems abundantly clear is that the US military, despite all the claims made by the Trump administration that it wishes to work with Russia to ease tensions, is doing everything possible to prepare for an outright conventional (for now) military conflict in Eastern Europe, literally on on Russia' doorstep. Imagine similar exercises were being conducted by the Russian military in Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Mexican and Canadian borders. How would most Americans view such activity? Would they see it as necessary deterrence to prevent a US military invasion of those countries, or as a provocation designed to intimidate and upset our citizens and political leadership? I think we all know the answer to that, and what our military reaction to such provocations would be. Something like this, I imagine.

Russia's summer wargames, named Zapad ("West") 2017, are set to kick off in September but are already setting off alarm bells across Europe. Held every four years, the Zapad exercises are a window into Russia's military prowess—and perhaps future intentions. The exercises, held jointly between Russia and neighboring Belarus, will take place later this summer in the two countries, involving the armed forces of both. According to Belarus' defense minister, "Up to 12,700 servicemen are planned to be involved in the drills. About 10,200 troops will be involved on the territory of our country, including 7,200 servicemen from the Belarusian Armed Forces and about 3,000 from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."

Trump campaigned on reducing tensions with Russia, but upon assuming office he essentially turned over authority regarding military operations to the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And they are proceeding with the plans initiated under the Obama administration to build up a large, potentially offensive military force along Russia's borders with its Eastern European neighbors. Trump's delegation of authority to the military is also likely responsible for the increased civilian death totals from actions by US air and ground forces in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Whether Trump cares about how his generals are conducting our wars and war games in light of his stated desire to improve relations with Russia is an open question. However, it seems clear he doesn't feel the need at present to rein in the Pentagon, or to cease military activities that already are putting Russian and US warplanes in highly dangerous situations where one misstep could lead to open war.

Is it any wonder that an overwhelming majority of the US public, 76 percent in a recent NBC News survey, fear a major war will break out in the next four years? It seems that whatever Trump's less militaristic posture in his debates with Hillary Clinton was merely an act. Either that or his administration has been suborned and its military policy is now dominated by the very same neocons who supported Clinton during the 2016 campaign, as well as by factions in the Pentagon, the CIA and other governmental actors who favor military action over diplomacy.

And people wonder why so many Americans chose not to vote for either candidate last year. In the end, the result is the same: a greater risk of war with a nuclear armed superpower amid the most feverish red-baiting since the McCarthy era. Only this time its the Democrats leading calling out the Trump administration as in league with the Red Menace, and a Republican President who is enacting the very dangerous policies put in place by his Democratic predecessor. Policies designed to foster a greater risk of war that puts American lives in danger and threatens the breakout of World War III.

At least the arms dealers and defense contractors are happy, as are their investors. So there's that.