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U.S. assessing cost of keeping troops in Germany as Trump battles with Europe


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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.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-assessing-cost-of-keeping-troops-in-germany-as-trump-battles-with-europe/2018/06/29/94689094-ca9f-490c-b3be-b135970de3fc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c0876b25b29c

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27 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

I do believe we should not have a large contingent of us troops in Europe.  They can send for themselves.

If this is the cost of having a strong alliance with a mostly peaceful Europe... that seems pretty fucking inexpensive in the grand scheme of things.

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43 minutes ago, Chairslinger said:

Doesn't having troops and bases in Germany help us when we decide to go to war with some country in the Middle East? I remember hearing story after story about how injured troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were flown to Germany for treatment.

I would think so. Here's a visual of where we have bases around the world as of 2015:

backpage-11601.jpg

 

It would seem like having some significant presence in Europe would be useful if we need to deploy troops to much of the planet. I have no clue how the cost/benefit analysis would work out.

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2 hours ago, mclumber1 said:

I do believe we should not have a large contingent of us troops in Europe.  They can send for themselves.

Removing our bases because we had close discussions with our closest allies and reaching an amicable agreement: great.

Removing our bases because our shitstain baby president threw a toddler* tantrum: not so great.

 

 

 

 

*I realize this is disrespectful to most toddlers. My nephew for example, is capable of far more rational behavior than Trump. He can read better than MAGA-chuds too. 

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The ambassador to Estonia, a career diplomat, resigned over Trump's EU/NATO comments

 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/29/u-s-ambassador-to-estonia-resigns-in-disgust-after-trump-anti-europe-rants-nato-european-union-diplomacy-transatlantic-alliance/

 

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“A Foreign Service Officer’s DNA is programmed to support policy and we’re schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honorable course is to resign. Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me,” he wrote in the post, which was obtained by Foreign Policy.

 

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