Posted on 06/29/2018 7:42:35 PM PDT by tcrlaf
The Pentagon is analyzing the cost and impact of a large-scale withdrawal or transfer of American troops stationed in Germany, amid growing tensions between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to people familiar with the work.
The effort follows Trump’s expression of interest in removing the troops, made during a meeting earlier this year with White House and military aides, U.S. officials said. Trump was said to have been taken aback by the size of the U.S. presence, which includes about 35,000 active-duty troops, and complained that other countries were not contributing fairly to joint security or paying enough to NATO.
Word of the assessment has alarmed European officials, who are scrambling to determine whether Trump actually intends to reposition U.S. forces or whether it is merely a negotiating tactic ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels, where Trump is again likely to criticize U.S. allies for what he deems insufficient defense spending.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I would prefer we move the bases to Florida or North Carolina.
Way past time for the U.S.A. To stop paying for the defence of Europe.
Bring the troops home from Germany and station them along our southern border
35k active troops. That is a good size city. I wonder what the cost of all that is as a stand alone item.
Yeah - they haven't figured out that when Trump uses a "negotiating tactic" it's with full intent of leveraging it.....
“Europe has grown stupid and lazy. Let them defend themselves.”
Europe isn’t stupid or lazy! They have managed to build their socialist countries on the American dime! By our willingness to defend them with our military at largely our expense, they have been able to fund socialism with the money that rightly should have been spent assisting with the protection we have given them. Now I suppose in the past, our government has felt that by protecting them, we were,in some measure, protecting ourselves from having to fight another world war for them, and having the ability to place offensive weapons closer to the Soviet Union was also considered a benefit to us. But now it all doesn’t make as much sense, as these countries essentially $hit on us despite our largesse, so I think Trump is going to force them to change, or we will move our troops and equipment elsewhere. The only problem will be Russia, because any movement will likely be closer to their border.
The Europeans have always thought that they had us over a barrel, but they hadn’t met Donald J. Trump!
“Trump has amazing instincts... this could be real or a bargaining chip... or a preemptive move.... “
I think it’s multifaceted. Part of our budget problem and our massive national debt is this kind of spending. We have essentially provided free military protection. It must stop! And Europe isn’t the only place where defense cuts need to be made.
Russia has a pissant economy. They don’t represent the threat that they once did. Trump could pull a Reagan and force them to spend themselves into bankruptcy.
Good idea !
German GDP $4.171 trillion
Russian GDP $4.152 trillion
Germany has roughly half the population of Russia.
They could make it a resettlement destination to experiment with their diversity utopia and keep a watch from their new headquarters.
Bring ‘me ALL home. Everywhere. We are not the world’s police force and we’re not appreciated —or paid — anywhere. With today’s resources, we can be where we need to be very quickly. It’s not necessary for us to have a permanent presence in these places.
Concur. But build a wall around it first.
This is huge. No other American president has threatened to pull the troops from Germany.
Trust me, Poland would give us first rate incentives to move a base there if we need a forward base.
If we withdraw from Germany, it will be a major blow to their economy. Combined with the tariffs, it would finish Frau Blucher and force truly free trade on all of Europe.
Not Poland or eastern Europe. Move at least some of these troops to Poland.
Pull others back the to defend our own border from Mexicos American hating president.
I was not thinking of any military intimidation. Just without uncle Sam and his troops in Europe it would lessen his influence and increase Ivan’s. The sneaky Russians, with all their resources and the potential of their market, are in very close proximity to be able to create hate and discontent amongst the EU powers and others. The Russian oligarchs are not much different from the EU ones. The potential for more power and greed works better than a powerful military threat for the godless EU and Ivan can provide both.
as long as we’re expecting the fight Wars near Europe that might be worth while. Much of the Fighting Force however should be move to Poland the rest should be brought home to defend our own borders.
From Mexico’s increasingly belligerent president.
Poland is worthy and is offering to help pay for a base. Let’s move East closer to the threat.
German GDP $1.76 trillion USD (1990)
Russian GDP $516.81 billion USD (1990)
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