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Trump Orders Massive Cut to U.S. Troop Numbers in Germany

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sanman

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Trump orders massive cut to U.S. troop numbers in Germany

The U.S. military will reduce its footprint in Germany by nearly one-third after President Donald Trump ordered a dramatic drawdown in force levels from the key NATO ally, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The newspaper cited White House officials who said the move was outlined in a memorandum signed White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien in recent days that has still not been made public yet.


Under the order, U.S. troop presence in Germany would drop by 9,500 servicemembers, from 34,500 today to about 25,000.

[A German Tornado fighter aircraft prepares to land at Büchel Air Base on Feb. 27, 2019, near Cochem, Germany. The base houses B61 nuclear bombs of the U.S. military and has been the only base with U.S. nukes in Germany since 2007.]

The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration will also cap the number of total troops in the country at 25,000, creating a potential logistics problem for the military. The total personnel presence can swell to double that number or more as units process through major bases in Germany for deployment across the globe.

Officials from the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Military Times. Officials from U.S. European Command deferred comment to the Pentagon. The Pentagon deferred questions to the National Security Council.

Trump for years has lamented the cost of housing U.S. troops at overseas bases, even as Pentagon leaders have emphasized the strategic value of such arrangements and the costs shouldered by U.S. allies.
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Trump to Pull 9,500 Troops From Germany Without Telling Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was caught off guard by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull 9,500 U.S. troops out of Germany by September.

The government wasn’t officially notified by the U.S. about Trump’s plan, and it has so far only found out about the matter from media reports, a German government official said on Saturday, declining to comment further.

The decision to pull more than a quarter of U.S. troops out of Germany comes after years of tension between the U.S. and Chancellor Angela Merkel over her country’s military spending. The change has been discussed within the Trump administration since last September and reflects increases in military outlays by U.S. allies that allow for such cuts, a person familiar with the matter said, asking not be identified.
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Putin never imagined he'd be able to get so much return on his investment.
 
Airyaman said:
Putin never imagined he'd be able to get so much return on his investment.
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Because 9500 US troops are the only thing standing in the way of Russian domination of Germany. :roll:
 
humbolt said:
Because 9500 US troops are the only thing standing in the way of Russian domination of Germany. :roll:
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Chipping away, chipping away.
 
I imagine the folks favoring reductions in foreign US presence won't object. The US has been reducing its military footprint for quite a while now, so this isn't unusual. It's also important to note that troops will remain at a cap of 25,000. A cap could create problems in a large mobilization scenario in the future, but since this administration has favored non-intervention, it's consistent with its general foreign policy.
 
Russia threat: Putin pushes towards West - as Trump pulls troops out of Germany | World | News | Express.co.uk

RUSSIA is deploying more personnel to its western region in a move which underlines President Vladimir Putin's determination to test NATO's physical and strategic boundaries.

The move, coming at the same time as US President Donald Trump confirmed plans to withdraw almost 10,000 troops from Germany, offers a clear indication of the spiralling tension which increasingly characterises Moscow's relations with the West.
 
So...you guys support American imperialism, and having a huge military budget?
 
Glitch said:
Good. We have had US troops in Germany for 79 years. It is well past time to abolish NATO and leave Europe, including Italy. We should be leaving Okinawa and Japan as well, for the same reason.
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Why would we want to leave NATO?
 
Airyaman said:
Russia threat: Putin pushes towards West - as Trump pulls troops out of Germany | World | News | Express.co.uk

RUSSIA is deploying more personnel to its western region in a move which underlines President Vladimir Putin's determination to test NATO's physical and strategic boundaries.

The move, coming at the same time as US President Donald Trump confirmed plans to withdraw almost 10,000 troops from Germany, offers a clear indication of the spiralling tension which increasingly characterises Moscow's relations with the West.
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Well then...the European NATO countries had better beef up their military capabilities, shouldn't they? You know...reach that 2% of GDP in military spending they've all promised to do.
 
KevinKohler said:
So...you guys support American imperialism, and having a huge military budget?
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Nah...they don't.

But if it's something they can complain about Trump over, they don't mind being hypocrites.
 
Jezcoe said:
Why would we want to leave NATO?
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Because it serves no useful purpose. NATO was created to counter the Warsaw Pact. When the Warsaw Pact was abolished in 1989, NATO should have followed suit and disappeared as well. NATO is being used now to threaten and harass former Warsaw Pact nations, and that reflects badly on the nations supporting NATO.

We wouldn't be leaving NATO. Since the US effectively is NATO, we would be abolishing NATO completely with our departure. The EU will have to form their own organization, assuming they want one.
 
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The intended outcome is good.

Not telling Merkel is typical Trump stupidness.
 
Mycroft said:
Well then...the European NATO countries had better beef up their military capabilities, shouldn't they? You know...reach that 2% of GDP in military spending they've all promised to do.
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That's fine. I'm all for pulling troops from other countries. We can then reduce the number of military personnel because we won't need that many stateside. Save some money! Cha-ching!
 
bluesmoke said:
A poll with 21% not even answering is not a dependable poll. A 5 pt diff doesn't mean a commanding lead with that many outstanding opinion.

Trump is the Putie bootlicker.
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Nice try, but the majority want us out.

Buying gas from a geopolitical foe always is always in your best interest....right?

How did that work out for the USA?
 
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humbolt said:
Germany has a standing army of about 64,000. Russia has 900,000.
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Even during the peak of US involvement in Germany during the 1970s the US only had ~250,000 troops in Germany. It was estimated that Berlin would last a maximum of 3 days, and the rest of West Germany would fall within 2 weeks. NATO strategy was not to stop Russia from taking all of Europe, just to slow them down.
 
Glitch said:
Because it serves no useful purpose. NATO was created to counter the Warsaw Pact. When the Warsaw Pact was abolished in 1989, NATO should have followed suit and disappeared as well. NATO is being used now to threaten and harass former Warsaw Pact nations, and that reflects badly on the nations supporting NATO.

We wouldn't be leaving NATO. Since the US effectively is NATO, we would be abolishing NATO completely with our departure. The EU will have to form their own organization, assuming they want one.
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I don't know. It seems that being able to have basically all of Europe under our command if we needed it is a pretty useful thing to have.

They are also nice enough to allow us to have military bases on their sovereign soil.

If we want to vastly reduce the US's force projection from global to regional, then that is a conversation to have about the pros and the cons, but for now it seems that institutions that were made at the height of US power that almost everyone involved is cool with... it seems short sighted to completely dismantle it because of a feeling of "what have you done for me lately?"
 
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