So Now We Have Boots On The Ground

While the President has been dining on $600 Sushi in Japan, 600 U.S. troops have been dispersed to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia plus a frigate is on it's way to the Black Sea.

The troops are supposedly engaging in military exercises.  The ship is "to promote peace and stability in the region."

With some 40,000 troops massed along the Ukrainian border, I'm sure Putin is quaking in his boots.

Is it reasonable to think these few troops under the pretext of military exercises will deter Russia from continuing it's aggression?

It is now apparent negotiations haven't had any impact.  Russia has just spun the language of the so called agreements to serve it's own purposes.  So now what happens?  If we're trying to make a show of strength it's a mighty weak one.  If we're trying to assure our NATO allies we have their backs, it is also mighty weak.

The Russians are getting more and more aggressive. The Brits, the Dutch and the Danes have all scrambled aircraft after Russian planes came to close to their territories for comfort. That does not bode well.

Obama thinks Putin is operating from a state of weakness.  I'd hate to see how he plays from a position of strength.  What will happen if he finds the excuse he's looking for to actually invade the Ukraine?  What will be expected of the U.S. because it has troops in the area, meager as they may be?
Will the U.S. be expected to step up to the plate? It would be another suicide mission the way things currently stand.  Or will those troops retreat back to Italy before things get really rough?  Who knows?  I'm not betting on U.S. foreign policy to be effective under any circumstance.

The idea of peace and stability in the region seems like a dream induced, perhaps, from smoking too much weed. To the people of the region I'm sure it's a nightmare.