The US has deployed around 350 airmen and a dozen F-15C fighter jets to Iceland and the NetherlanDs as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR). The Pentagon’s is attempting to demonstrate a show of force, designed to deter what the US has called ‘Russian aggression’ against Europe. However, Moscow says the Western hawks are simply using the perceived Russian threat in order to justify greater military spending. RT reports: The aircraft and troops were sent from the Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and the Fresno Air National Guard Base in California for a six-month tour to Iceland’s Keflavik and the Dutch Leeuwarden Air Base. The American fighters “will conduct training alongside NATO allies and partners as part of OAR to strengthen interoperability, demonstrate US commitment to a Europe that is whole, free, at peace, secure, and prosperous and to deter further Russian aggression,” the USAF said in a statement. During the tour the aircraft will forward-deploy to the Eastern European nations of Bulgaria, Romania and Estonia. The deployment is one of several planned by the Pentagon. Next month it is planning to send six F-15s to Finland, which is not a NATO member, but an active participant in [...]