German lawmakers criticize
reported US troop withdrawal plan
Associated Press,
by
Staff
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
6/6/2020 6:28:15 PM
Berlin—Two conservative German lawmakers have criticized the reported U.S. decision to withdraw more than a quarter of American troops stationed in Germany. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Germany by 9,500. Currently there are 34,500 American service members permanently assigned in Germany as part of a long-standing arrangement with America's NATO ally. In an interview published Saturday by Germany's Funke Media Group, lawmaker Norbert Roettgen said such a troop withdrawal would be “very regrettable.” Roettgen, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Union bloc
Reply 1 - Posted by:
padiva 6/6/2020 6:45:05 PM (No. 435214)
Isn't it time for Germany to pick up some of the slack?
22 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 6/6/2020 6:47:15 PM (No. 435215)
It’s about time. We’ve been there waay too long. Let them defend themselves.
27 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Omen55 6/6/2020 6:58:16 PM (No. 435219)
I don't trust countries that want to be continuously occupied by US.
9 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bad-hair 6/6/2020 7:05:20 PM (No. 435225)
Cry me a river
Might have to fight the Muslims off by your self.
21 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
seamusm 6/6/2020 7:15:18 PM (No. 435231)
An admission that they cannot defend themselves? More likely recognition that our money fuels their economy. Turn off the spigot - it is way overdue.
30 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Citoyen 6/6/2020 7:15:46 PM (No. 435233)
We should remove them all from Germany as well as from Italy, the UK and Japan. Europe and Japan are rich nations that can easily take care of their own defense needs. I've always admired France under De Gaulle for refusing the USA's offer to maintain troops there. The biggest opponents of this first step will be the American war industry. In the end I doubt any will be removed from Germany.
8 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
TJ54 6/6/2020 7:19:06 PM (No. 435235)
LOL - Angela will protect you!
10 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 6/6/2020 7:51:55 PM (No. 435265)
Screw 'em. They always want it both ways.
4 people like this.
Stationed at Field Station Berlin 73-75 when there was a need for the US to be there and in Germany.
Long overdue to pull out.
10 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
melman 6/6/2020 8:00:19 PM (No. 435274)
The Germans are crying about all the money they will lose.
13 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
lakerman1 6/6/2020 8:17:51 PM (No. 435293)
i was stationed in germany, 1958-1960, first at Hahn Air Base, then Weisbaden air Base. It was the best place to serve, in the entire world.
The Status Of Forces agreement between the U.S. and Germany protected GIs there, the cost of living was low, and the military ran gas stations on base, with gasoline sold at ten cents a gallon. The dollar was strong, and the exchange rate for deutche marks was one dollar to 4.3 marks. and one mark was the cost of a good German beer. And my monthly pay was about one hundred dollars.
(even better, I went to the Mosel Wine Festival in 1958, and one mark bought one bottle of that famous vintage)
those were the days, my friends!
11 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 6/6/2020 8:36:21 PM (No. 435310)
Most of Germany's military is in deep trouble with outdated and broken equipment. Few of their aircraft or tanks are in actual fighting condition.
They have been massively underfunding their military for decades.
Time for us to let them cover their own security.
15 people like this.
Removing our troops is regrettable. Oh by the way, so is removing the money we get for it and save our marks to give bennies to the Muzzie s
4 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Jennie C. 6/6/2020 9:00:50 PM (No. 435335)
I can understand keeping the medical facilities open, as it's so handy to the Mideast. But do we really still need --combat-- troops there? Someone explain this to me. Seriously, I want to know.
3 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Mushroom 6/6/2020 9:05:34 PM (No. 435338)
#12, 25yrs later I used Ramstein as a go point many , many times. Did pass through Frankfurt, but there are no services for transient troops, even under blanket orders. In Southern Germany the people near the base were kind. A Bar keep in one era that supported us moved up in the world and bought a golf course bar franchise. I visited the bar (obviously for locals only) and was met with a smile, in German one of the patrons stated he was not pleased with my presence, the barkeep, in German, dressed him down basically saying I was a paying customer like any other and that I had proved my worth in his past. I was treated as an equal the rest of the evening. It was nice that they tried to speak English. I did my best in German, but failed miserably, it endeared me them..stupid American. I should mention that in that phase of my youth, I apparently had a much better kidney processing abilities then they. :)
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Connor 6/6/2020 9:33:50 PM (No. 435366)
Why were we there?
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
RuckusTom 6/6/2020 10:12:38 PM (No. 435401)
Start paying and training your own troops, Germany.
3 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
red1066 6/6/2020 10:55:07 PM (No. 435443)
It's not the troops, it's the money the troops generate for the German economy.
6 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/6/2020 10:55:48 PM (No. 435444)
Screw Germany. This is D-Day and they were the cause of it. We'll talk again later, after they've paid their NATO dues..
4 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/6/2020 10:58:13 PM (No. 435446)
Come on, #6. Remove all of our troops from those good duty stations and there will be no place to reward people with after they've served their first tour in one of the many shiiteholes.
3 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
Trigger2 6/7/2020 4:50:41 AM (No. 435541)
OH no, Germany will have to pony up money now for military protection. How awful.
1 person likes this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
judy 6/7/2020 5:56:42 AM (No. 435556)
Ask them to pay for protection. We've there since the 40's This is 2020
1 person likes this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
GO3 6/7/2020 7:40:23 AM (No. 435620)
Very few combat troops there. As someone mentioned, most are what they call Base Support Battalions which are intermediate support facilities for rotational combat units to Poland and the Baltics for NATO exercises. To be frank, the support structure was also retained to provide for a large number of retiree homesteaders for medical, dental, etc. I would say the demographics of that population has been trending downward at a good clip, so bring the troops home.
1 person likes this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Ribicon"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Comments:
German officials say Trump is defaulting on his leadership tasks by scaling back US taxpayer-funded defense for Germany, which wants to be a Turkish/African outpost, presumably against Russia. And the USA, in a bitter irony, is capitulating to the same communists we helped to take over half of Europe, thanks to FDR's cabinet of Soviet agents.