Dave DeCamp – Antiwar.com Oct 20, 2020
US Stryker armoured vehicles make their way from Germany to Orzysz, Poland, for drills. Click to enlarge
When Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced the Trump administration’s plan to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany, he said about half of the soldiers will go home, and the other half will be redeployed across Europe. Comments from the Pentagon chief on Tuesday suggest he is considering bringing fewer troops home than originally planned.
In July, Esper said 4,500 soldiers from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment stationed in Germany would return home to the US as part of the withdrawal. On Tuesday, Esper said there is a possibility of keeping this unit deployed in Eastern Europe on an “enduring basis.”
“Indeed, since … the signing of the defense cooperation agreement with Poland, my recent meetings with defense ministers from Romania and Bulgaria, and correspondence received from Baltic states, there is now the real opportunity of keeping the 2nd Cavalry Regiment forward in some of these countries on an enduring basis,” Esper said at a speech at the Atlantic Council.
A Pentagon official said later on Tuesday that Esper’s comments meant the 2nd Cavalry Unit would be deployed to Eastern Europe on a rotational basis, not a permanent one. According to Stars and Stripes, a Pentagon spokesman said that for now, the military is continuing with the plan to move the 2nd Cavalry Regiment to a new home station in the US. Still, Esper’s comments show the US is considering leaving more troops in Europe than initially planned.
The administration’s plan to bring troop numbers in Germany from about 36,000 to 24,000 has been met with much criticism from Congress. Lawmakers view the drawdown as a gift to Russia. The House even included an amendment to block funding for the withdrawal in its version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
Since announcing the drawdown, Esper has defended it, insisting the administration plans to move more troops east, closer to Russia’s border. The potential plan to leave more troops in Europe than initially thought could be an attempt by Esper to appease Congress.
The founders of the USA were suspicious of standing armies for precisely this reason.
Apart from war and increasing hostility, just what is all this for? And didn’t millions of Americans vote for Trump four years ago to avoid all this? Why hold elections at all?
They forget the US is going broke. Many of the people know it only too well. Young people join the military because it’s the only job they KNOW they won’t be made redundant. In plain English, the USA is a failed nation but as long as international bankers nee bullies, there will be jobs even the dumbest American will do. Better still, like Rome in it’s fading days, lots of American servicemen are foreigners.
In the old days, crazy emperors started wars out of vainglory. Now plutocrats do the same to ensure their market share will increase no matter how bad things got. We miss the crazy emperors. At least one of them got knocked off once in awhile, but corporations are immortal.
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It costs a lot of dough to keep these pointless forces in Europe and it costs even more to rotate them. The UK is in the same situation and neither can afford the upkeep.
The Russians have publically stated that if NATO moves on Russia, their first response will use tactical nukes against these NATO forces. We are talking about a lot of death in minutes & the Russians can state their policy PUBLICALLY, because they have no intention to invade countries that BUY Russian gas and oil.
There is a staggering level of cognative disonence within the US and UK regimes. Germany won’t budge, they will not spend more that 1% of GDP on the military, because this sends the wrong message. Bankrupt Amerika can whine all they like, nothing is going to change.
UK BAE Systems has 85,300 employees, they are active in 40+ countries & they have over £/$46 billion in order backlog. Yet, the UK tax payer subsidieses every single employee by £40,000 per year & that probably includes global employees, many of them in the US. The thicko sheeple don’t care where their money is spent, or where their children are sent to die.
More American troop deployment. More hungry Americans.
Be a good yank and go home.Back to cesspit you call US.