“but our bases in Germany also benefit us in providing some implicit warning to Putin”
Why is this beneficial to US interests, rather than antagonistic to them?
This benefits ONLY Western Europe.
Exactly.
Russia is not the Soviet Union. Russia is not our enemy.
We have 2 enemies, two forces that are seeking our total annihilation, and they are in alliance against US:
1. International islam
2. The globalist left, led by the EU.
Russia is actively resisting both of these enemies and is the only country effectively fighting islam.
That seems to me to put us on the same side. No sense in needlessly antagonizing our friends.