'It's complicated': US mulls withdrawing thousands of troops from Germany
TRUMP FAILED GEOGRAPHY
GERMANY IS NOWHERE NEAR THE MIDDLE EAST
The US president wants almost 10,000 US soldiers assigned out of Germany by September, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move is reportedly down to Germany not increasing its defense spending sufficiently.
CUT CUT CUT AUSTERITY GONE MAD AS TRUMP III LIKE
KING GEORGE III BEFORE HIM THINKS THIS IS HIS
PERSONAL ARMY COSTING HIM MONEY. SO MOVING
THE TROOPS IS A FIRESALE MOVE, AFTER ALL HE
HAS MOVED ALL THE TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN
HEY THE FOLKS AT OKINAWA WOULD LIKE YOU TO
MOVE YANKEE FORCES OUT
Issued on: 07/06/2020
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas addresses a news conference on June 5, 2020, at the Foreign Office in Berlin. © Michael Kappeler/POOL/AFP
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview Sunday that relations with Washington are "complicated" following media reports that the US wants to withdraw 9,500 troops from Germany, significantly reducing US commitments to European defence under NATO in what one former US military commander said would be a "gift" to Russia's Vladimir
Germany on Sunday voiced concern at reports that President Donald Trump plans to cut the number of US troops stationed in Germany, amid fears it could weaken a key pillar of NATO defence in the region.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said both countries stood to gain from close cooperation even if the transatlantic relationship had become "complicated" under Trump.
Other senior politicians in Berlin were more blunt, slamming the plan as the latest blow to US-German ties and a potential security risk.
"Should it come to the withdrawal of part of the US troops, we take note of this," Maas told the Bild am Sonntag daily.
"We appreciate the cooperation with the US armed forces that has grown over decades. It is in the interest of both of our countries."
Peter Beyer, Chancellor Angela Merkel's coordinator for transatlantic relations, warned that "the German-US relationship could be severely affected" by Trump's decision.
The Wall Street Journal and other media reported on Friday that Trump had ordered the Pentagon to slash the number of US military personnel by 9,500 from the current 34,500 permanently assigned in Germany.
Such a move would significantly reduce the US commitment to European defence under the NATO umbrella, and appeared to catch Berlin off guard.
'Wake-up call'
But Maas admitted ties with the Trump administration had become strained.
"We are close partners in the transatlantic alliance. But it's complicated," Maas told Bild, in a nod to rows ranging from the Iranian nuclear deal to NATO contributions and Berlin's support for a Russian gas pipeline.
There was no immediate confirmation from US officials about the alleged plan to slash US troop numbers in Germany and cap them at 25,000 in future.
But Trump's lukewarm support of longstanding cooperation agreements with European allies has long caused alarm on the continent.
The US leader been particularly scathing towards Germany in recent years, accusing the fellow NATO member of not spending enough on defence.
Germany hosts more US troops than any other country in Europe, a legacy of the Allied occupation after World War II.
Johann Wadephul, a senior member in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party, said the troop reduction plan showed that the Trump administration was "neglecting an elementary leadership task: involving alliance partners in the decision-making process".
It also served as another "wake-up call" for Europeans to take more responsibility for their own defence, he said in a statement on Saturday.
Only China and Russia stood to gain from "discord" between NATO allies, Wadephul added.
>> 'Russia is a strategic adversary,' says former NATO chief Rasmussen
'Colossal mistake'
Rolf Muetzenich, leader of the parliamentary group of the centre-left SPD, Merkel's junior coalition partner, told the Funke newspaper group that the US plan could lead to "a lasting realignment of security policy in Europe".
Former US Army Europe commander Ben Hodges, who was stationed in the German city of Wiesbaden before he retired, said a US drawdown would be "a colossal mistake" and "a gift" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"US troops are not in Europe to protect Germans," he tweeted. "They are forward-based, as part of NATO, to protect all members, including USA."
Although the American military presence has strongly declined since the end of the Cold War nearly three decades ago, Germany remains a crucial hub for US armed forces.
As well as serving as a deterrence to a resurgent Russia, US troops use their German bases to coordinate military operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The headquarters for US forces in Europe and Africa are both based in Stuttgart, while the US air base in Ramstein plays a major role in transporting soldiers and equipment to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The US military hospital in Landstuhl, near Ramstein, is the largest of its kind outside the United States.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Saturday that he hoped some of the troops moved out of Germany could be reassigned to Poland.
(AFP)
Trump orders US troop reduction in Germany — report
US President Donald Trump on Friday told the Pentagon to reduce the number of troops stationed in Germany, a senior US official told the Wall Street Journal.
Last September, former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell threatened such a move if Germany did not increase its defense spending.
The 9,500 soldiers slated to move would be assigned back home or to Poland and other allied nations.
The US currently has 34,500 troops in Germany. The move would cut down US troop numbers in Germany to 25,000. Around 17,000 US American employees support US troops in Germany, Reuters news agency reported.
The official, who did not want to be identified, said the decision had nothing to do with the escalating tensions between Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who rejected Trump's plan to hold a G7 meeting at the end of this month.
Instead, the official said the decision was the result of months-long work by US top military officer General Mark Milley.
A second senior administration official said there was no need for a large US presence in Germany due to overall increased defense spending by the NATO military alliance.
The second official also said the United States had begun working on the plan last September and that the order was signed off by Trump's national security adviser, Robert O’Brien.
The top Democrat on Senate Armed Services Committee said the move was "petty and preposterous."
"It's another favor to (Russian President) Putin and another leadership failure by this Administration that further strains relations with our allies," Senator Jack Reed said.
In the statement, White House National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said the United States remained committed to working with Germany on defense and other issues.
Berlin-Washington spat
US-German relations have further deteriorated under Trump's leadership. The US president often criticized Berlin for not spending enough on defense.
Last month, Grenell said the German government undermined NATO's nuclear deterrent.
Grenell – loyal to Trump – regularly echoed the US president's criticisms of Berlin's involvement in the Iran nuclear deal and the possible use of Huawei technology in Germany's new 5G network.
The Trump administration has also accused Germany of being a "captive" of Moscow because of its energy alliance in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.
mvb/sms (Reuters, DPA, AFP)
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Date 05.06.2020
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Keywords Donald Trump, US Army, military, Pentagon
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