The United States is carrying out President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw close to 12,000 troops from Germany
A decision that has attracted bipartisan congressional opposition and roiled key allies who see the move as a blow to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, (NATO).
Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, acknowledged that the plan will cost billions to execute when he formally announced the decision on Wednesday from the Pentagon. Defense officials believe it will take years to relocate the troops.
The plan to pull US troops from the long-time NATO ally has been met with broad bipartisan opposition amid concerns that it will weaken the US military’s position vis a vis Russia, however the Trump Administration has decided to proceed with the move.
Trump defended the decision, saying the troop withdrawal was taking place because Berlin was not using the NATO target of 2% of its GDP on defense and also that Germany was taking “advantage” of the US.
“We spend a lot of money on Germany, they take advantage of us on trade and they take advantage on the military, so we’re reducing the force. “They’re there to protect Europe, they’re there to protect Germany, and Germany is supposed to pay for it,” Trump said to reporters. “We don’t want to be responsible anymore.”
Defense officials, however, said that the decision on where to house the US troops leaving Germany was not influenced by whether the new host country was meeting the 2% target. Apparently, Belgium and Italy, the two countries that will be receiving US troops from Germany, spend an even smaller percentage on defense than Berlin does.
“The current EUCOM plan will reposition approximately 11,900 military personnel from Germany, from roughly 36,000 down to 24,000, in a manner that will strengthen NATO, enhance the deterrence of Russia, and meet the other principles I set forth,” Esper told reporters, referring to US European Command which oversees US military forces on the continent.
Officials said the discrepancy was due to the fact that following a review, it was found that there were slightly more US troops permanently assigned to Germany, about 36,000, than originally planned for.
Of the troops leaving Germany, some 5,400 will be “staying in Europe,” the official said. The remaining 6,400 forces and their families will be returned to the US and will in time redeploy to Europe.
Defense officials said this will cost billions of dollars as new military construction will likely be required both in Europe and the US to house the additional troops.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney slammed the decision, calling the plan “a grave error” and “a gift to Russia.” “The Administration’s plan to remove thousands of U.S. troops from Germany is a grave error. It is a slap in the face of a friend and ally when we should instead be drawing closer in our mutual commitment to deter Russian and Chinese aggression,” he tweeted just a while after Esper’s announcement.
“It is a gift to Russia coming at a time when we just have learned of its support for the Taliban and reports of bounties on killing American troops. The move may temporarily play well in domestic politics, but its consequences will be lasting and harmful to American interests,” Romney added.
