The decision by the US Department of Defense to increase its NATO-related spending on confronting Russia in Europe is harming US-Russia relations and providing zero military benefit to America, according to former US Chief of Naval Operations Theodore Postol. Postol says that the U.S. support of NATO expansion is “a provocation that builds on the ‘original sin’ of NATO expansion, which led to the predictable breakdown of relations between Russia and the West.” Sputniknews.com reports: On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the Defense Department will spend 50 percent more in fiscal year 2017 on its fight against the Islamic State and will request $3.4 billion in its fiscal year 2017 budget to support NATO allies in Europe. “The deployment has absolutely no military benefit in terms of NATO’s ability to defend allies in eastern and central Europe,” Postol, who is also Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security Policy, added. He noted the increased US military commitment in Europe was built upon “a remarkable dissembling” of a 1997 agreement between Russia and the West that heavy weapons and troops would not be sent to locations near Russia’s borders. “In all, these actions will do nothing more than cause quite reasonable Russians to conclude that the United States and NATO will say anything, and seek [...]