US to pull out of Germany and Saudi Arabia

[Lincoln]

Rumsfeld indicates U.S. troops to be pulled out of Germany

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been visting Iraq this Wednesday. Following a stop in the southern city of Basra, Rumsfeld moved onto the capital, Baghdad. He met with the U.S. appointed administrator for Iraq, Jay Garner. Later, he spoke to U.S. soldiers at Baghdad's airport. Asked about rumours that Washington was planning to pull troops out of Germany, Rumsfeld indicated that the rumours were true, but that the details had not yet been worked out. Those comments came one day after Rumsfeld announced that U.S. troops were pulling out of Saudi Arabia.

http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1429_W_855656,00.html

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Europe will be on their own pretty soon... I remember Bush saying before 9/11 that he would not be very inclined to intervene in world affairs that did not directly effect the interests of the United States. So I guess it is time for Europe to form their own army.

[GePap]

We already have a SA thread going. As for the second, they are moving out of Germany, and into Eastern european bases like in Poland, CVzech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria.

So no, the Us is not pulling out of europe any time soon.

May I add that most european states can defend thmselves form thier enemies, specially since they have none..who is going to invade Germany? Burma??

[Az]

* Meanwhile, in Myanmar.... *

[SlowwHand]

Good.

[Lincoln]

I changed the title thanks to GePap.

[Lincoln]

Well, I tried to change the title anyway. But I agree that we should get completely out of Europe eventually.

[Dinner]

I'd like to see the German bases kept. There is more to Germany then the current Schoeder administration and I would hate to see a vindictive Rumesfield & Bush perminently throw away a major stategic asset just because they irked off with Schroeder.

[Pekka]

Makes no difference to us.. but in general, good idea

[GePap]

I think one of their big excuses is that bases in Germany are too expensive compared to new bases in Eastern Europe, plus these countries are closer to the areas the US is likely to be sending troops into, the ME and Central Asia.

[DanS]

I would hate to see a vindictive Rumesfield & Bush perminently throw away a major stategic asset just because they irked off with Schroeder

This is one of Rummy's old saws and only the timing is due to recent events. When he first got into the job, Rummy advocated pulling our troops out of a number of places, like the Sinai.

Overall, I think these are pretty deft moves. Nothing should be set in stone, like it was for 50 years. We will also pre-position a lot more stuff, which hopefully will keep our troops at home more, while not adversely impacting our power projection.

[Sandman]

Europe can defend itself quite handily already.

[DanS]

Kosovo.

[GePap]

Originally posted by DanS
Kosovo.

And Serbia was about to Invade...whom exactly? Hungary? None of the intervention in ex-Yugoslavia were defensive, they were humanitarian, and to "stabilize" the region.

I am sure if the Serbians wanted to Invade Germany, they would get a fine ass whooping, before they got there.

Next try, DanS.

[Lancer]

We spent a fortune fixing up the barracks across Germany. Oh well...

[DanS]

None of the intervention in ex-Yugoslavia were defensive, they were humanitarian, and to "stabilize" the region.

It was more than defensive. It was pre-emptive.