U.S. to remove 9,500 troops from Germany

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 5 that President Trump directed the Pentagon to permanently reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany by 9,500 troops. This corresponds to an approximately 27.5-percent troop reduction and would cap the U.S. military presence in Germany at 25,000.

This move is coming just days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed an invitation from President Trump to attend a G7 leaders summit in Washington later this month. Politco writes:

Trumps' withdrawal plan appeared to be less a form of direct retribution for Merkel's G7 decision but rather a follow-through on previous threats to reduce the U.S. military presence in Germany, which were convey by the U.S. ambassador Ric Grenell, as part of the overall White House criticism of Berlin's military spending as too meager.

This assessment is correct. Ever since he came into office, President Trump has been critical of our NATO allies, Germany in particular, for not carrying their proper share of the burden for their own defense. Some NATO allies increased their defense expenditures, but not wealthy Germany, whose outlay for NATO is a mere 1.2-percent of its GDP. In fact, last year, Germany cut its defense spending saying it could be counted in other way for operational support. This is diplomat-speak of telling the U.S., "You fight for us, and we'll hold your coat."

The disdain for the U.S. under Donald Trump runs deep in Germany. Polls show that even now after China has unleashed its Wuhan virus on the world, fewer Germans prioritize relationship with the United States over China. German has also proved an unreliable ally by trying to undercut the sanctions on Iran and becoming more reliant on Russian energy.

“Big Media tells me Merkel & Co are unhappy.”

For Merkel, there are two things, one possibly good/bad the other a for sure, that having the US military in the country does: the good/bad is they can be a problem for them, or if they are lucky and helpful, they can be nothing to them. And the for sure is they can generate a huge amount of income to the country. The total of overseas dollars allocated for 2020 is $24.4 billion. And that’s a whole lot more than jet fuel.

The foreign bases/posts besides elevating the local businesses, also purchase items for the location from local sources when available. Cost control. And when you consider that Germany has the second largest foreign in placement in the world by the US, that’s a lot of local purchases.

Tack that on to the annual $2.5 billion cost the Germans require us to pay to let us stay there, if we bail out, a lot of their economy is going tango uniform. So bringing a quarter, roughly, of the troops home brings their money for beer and cigarettes with it.

rwood

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.