Scraping the barrel for troops
The people of Iceland are about to join one of the world's smallest clubs - those nations without armed forces on their territory to defend their borders.
The United States, which had assured Iceland's defence for decades, stunned the country in March when it announced that it would be closing its bases on the island, withdrawing its F-15 fighters and thousands of servicemen in the space of just six months.
It should be noted that we defended Iceland more because it made a good radar station for us then any desire to support Iceland. And Iceland seems more upset about how this was handled and the quick timing then the troops pulling out itself. The US is only giving Iceland 6 months warning, which is a very short time for country to setup it's own army, navy and air force.
But with multiple fronts heating up and already short of troops, I guess the Pentagon figured they could free up some troops here without causing trouble.
Jay