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I would like to see us unass Germany and move our forward-deployed troops to Bosnia or Hungary. It would jumpstart those nations economies, ensure longterm stability in the Balkans, and we would be closer to future Mideast conflicts. I do not mean to stay there with the intent of patrolling the countryside. I mean to station our soldiers there, instead of in Germany. This would accomplish several things.

1) It would serve as a deterrent against war in the Balkans.

2) It would put us far closer to our potential areas of future conflicts, in the Middle East.

3) Rather than reward the Germans with the income that they get from having American soldiers spending money on their economy, we would allow that money to be spent on the Bosnian/Hungarian economy. That would help to revitalize the region.

The only potential downsides that I see are:

1) The abundance of undocumented minefields and other explosive ordnance that would preclude the use of much land for training areas in Bosnia, until the tedious process of clearing the land is complete.

2) We would need to replace and upgrade the existing transportation infrastructure in Bosnia, to allow for rapid deployment of any heavy forces stationed there.

3) The people in the region may misinterpret this. And, the Arabs might also misinterpret our current presence in the middle east as a precursor to us establishing permanent bases there, as well.

I agree that we need to unass Germany, but Bosnia is not the right place...we need to be leaving there, not moving in. If bases are to be a reward, the one most deserving is Poland. For location, and support/reward of real friends, I would say Bulgaria and Rumania is the right place. If we really want to properly preposition AND stir up a hornets nest, the really right place is Israel.

>>I would like to see us unass Germany and move our forward-deployed troops to Bosnia or Hungary.

Given that most serious Army movements are accomplished via 1) train to 2) a port, I fail to see how Hungary would be a very good idea as a place to base U.S. Army heavy forces. Bosnia is only slightly better, has one small port. Forward-deploying in these places would *not* "put us far closer to our potential areas of future conflicts, in the Middle East."