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| Europe |
| US Decision to Withdraw troops from Germany "Unacceptable" |
| 2020-06-09 |
| [USNews] "This is completely unacceptable, especially since nobody in Washington thought about informing its NATO ally Germany in advance," Peter Beyer, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, told the Rheinische Post newspaper. Following Trump's decision, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview that he regretted the planned withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Germany, describing Berlin's relationship with the United States as "complicated". Americans. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. |
| Posted by:Matt |
| #27 @ #9 - HB, HL, HH, HRO.... |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-06-09 23:33 |
| #26 @ #22 - Kinda like Turkey. |
| Posted by: Clem 2020-06-09 23:28 |
| #25 We can't afford not to be there. Our forces there are a placeholder. If we don't have them there, we'll cut our military spending to pre-WWII levels as a % of national output, Definitely something to ponder, Zhang Fe. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2020-06-09 22:52 |
| #24 /\ You should try the schnitzel. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-06-09 22:19 |
| #23 The Krauts make such damn good cars though |
| Posted by: Dopey Thaiter8666 2020-06-09 22:00 |
| #22 US needed German bases when we were being a busy-body in the middle east. Not so much now. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-06-09 21:56 |
| #21 A lightweight rather |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-06-09 21:17 |
| #20 He's apparently to cover his hypocrisy |
| Posted by: Frank G 2020-06-09 20:14 |
| #19 The United States Needs German Bases More Than Germany Does If so, then why is Herr Maas so upset? I am not conversant with current German politics. Is he a notably stupid person? |
| Posted by: charger 2020-06-09 20:09 |
| #18 In addition - three of the five 'trending' stories off to the right are SJW articles, so that made me scratch my head a bit. |
| Posted by: Raj 2020-06-09 19:53 |
| #17 When I was studying German in high school (mid 60s), my teacher claimed the German people longed for the two Germanies to be united, as they had long been. I didn't know much German history, but Germany had only been one country for less than 100 years. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2020-06-09 18:41 |
| #16 Last time I checked 0/6 of German subs were operational. Few of their aircraft could fly. Has anything changed? |
| Posted by: Thimp Clusort2035 2020-06-09 18:34 |
| #15 As I understood it, the point of being in Germany was to keep the Russians out and the Germans down. We appear to have accomplished both objectives. Good job, guys! Come on home. To our German brethren, I say "So long and thanks for all the schnitzel! And bier." INT - Daytime White House Staffer: No way, Mr. President. There is no way you can get Germany to beg you to keep troops in Europe. POTUS: Hold my beer! ... 1 week later... WHS: How does he do it? It's like a super-power or something. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-06-09 18:28 |
| #14 We can't afford to be there anymore. We can't afford not to be there. Our forces there are a placeholder. If we don't have them there, we'll cut our military spending to pre-WWII levels as a % of national output, while increasing gibsmedat funding levels. Then we'll get hit by a nuclear Pearl Harbor that kills hundreds of millions of Americans. In an age when bombs are powerful and the vehicles to deliver them can literally circumnavigate the globe, cutting defense is literally penny-wise and pound-foolish. Eisenhower stressed the need for a military-industrial complex, because in future wars, we won't be able to build what we need from a standing start as we did in WW2, thanks to the miracle of nuclear warheads, ballistic missile subs, ICBMs and bombers that can cross oceans to seek out targets. Oddly enough, the only part of his speech the left focused on was his caution that we should not let it get too big. Defense spending was 10% of national output at the end of his administration, so he presumably thought that was a reasonable number. It is now just under 4%. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2020-06-09 18:22 |
| #13 We can't afford to be there anymore. It's time to go. When Trump gets us out of the ME quagmire we won't need those bases and their absence will reduce future temptations to stage unnecessary adventures in that part of the world. It will disappoint some at the Pentagon, but that's a feature, not a bug. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-06-09 18:06 |
| #12 The United States Needs German Bases More Than Germany Does Yet another view from a pinko that the US should adhere to arms treaties systematically flouted by Russia and denies Russian territorial ambitions. The reality is that to the extent the defense of Europe is in the American interest, the US needs bases in Poland, not Germany, because that's where the front line is. After Munich, Hitler said, "This is my last territorial demand in Europe", not because he was uniquely evil, but because pretty much all conquerors try to get their quarry's guard down until they are ready to move. After the invasion of Poland, no one trusted anything he said, but he had what he needed - an alliance with Russia that ensured a quiet Eastern Front while he invaded France and the Low Countries. Bottom line is that you don't know what someone's true aims are until he stops, which is why you don't believe his stated aims, since he might be underplaying those aims, but attempt to match or exceed his capabilities. That is where Germany has been falling down on the job. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2020-06-09 17:59 |
| #11 The United States Needs German Bases More Than Germany Does |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-06-09 17:31 |
| #10 in 20 years it will be majority moslem and they won't want us there. look at it as getting ahead of the curve |
| Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 2020-06-09 16:36 |
| #9 I'd like them to return to Hansa mercantilsm. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-06-09 15:49 |
| #8 Most Euorpean histories in dealing with the 19th Century have passages about German Unification. In reality, it was mostly the annexation of the German states by Prussia. When real historians in the future write about the 20th Century Europe there will be some who will write about German reunification, when others will point out the de facto political absorption by East Germany Marxism. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2020-06-09 15:46 |
| #7 Just tell them the US, after 75 years of occupation, has given up on establishing a functioning democracy in Germany. |
| Posted by: Daffy Brown6765 2020-06-09 15:26 |
| #6 They want it to be like defunding the police. The troops go away, but the money stays. |
| Posted by: charger 2020-06-09 14:37 |
| #5 If they can't stand and defend themselves, they don't deserve to stand at all. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-06-09 14:37 |
| #4 The original rationale for long term occupation troops in Bavaria was that was where the hard core nazis came from. My younger son was barracked in Graf, and the building's prior occupant was the Waffen SS. The 'eagle and wreath' had been sandblasted off of all the door lintels, and the laundry room still had the outlines on the walls where crew served weapons had been hung. I think we've pretty much got past all that by now. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2020-06-09 13:43 |
| #3 The Russians are NOT coming. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2020-06-09 13:37 |
| #2 I was a US Military Brat in Hubbelrath, Hilden, Prüm, Heidelberg from 1964 to 1968. The West Germany that I grew up in, appreciated its freedom and the US Military being there. Now 50+ years later with fall of the Wall and the USSR. The former SOCIALISTS/Communists East Germany have become part of what is now Germany. They also brought with them Socialist-Communist values and culture. I would not want to live there again. Because see Germany moving further and further LEFT towards Socialism. If I were Trump I would tell every NATO country its been 50+ years, is it time for the US to move on. Have the population take a vote. IF it ain't 70+% for US to stay....we should leave. |
| Posted by: MIL BRAT 2020-06-09 13:07 |
| #1 Make them explain why the troops are needed, beyond the addiction to military paychecks in the local economies. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2020-06-09 12:56 |