The United States is withdrawing 5,000 troops stationed in NATO ally Germany, the Pentagon announced on Friday, as a rift over the Iran war widens between President Donald Trump and Europe.
Trump had threatened a drawdown in forces earlier this week after sparring with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said Monday that Iran was humiliating the U.S. in talks to end the two-month-old war and that he did not see what exit strategy Washington was pursuing.
Congrats to Germany I think?
I remember in 1989, when we fled/immigrated from Poland to Germany as Spätaussiedler, we moved to Franconia which is in Bavaria. There were US military bases in every small city even those where there were effectively only 50k Germans lil5jving, they all had a US military base.
One of my middle school class mates was later dating one of the US soldiers and married him moved to the US and got a child only for her husband to be deployed to Irak and be killed there…
Anyway, slowly they were reducing the number of military bases after the Berlin wall fell and we stopped seeing US military constantly driving humvies and tanks through the villages we lived in.
Them reducing even more is a natural progression, after 80 years of occupation it really is time to go.
Ami go home.
Imperialist france army is enough for europe,we dont need USA!
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
To the Europeans not paying attention. Your leaders are being asked to fall in line with the Imperialist empire that is the US.
Now, this can absolutely be a failure and and a bad move from the US. But, don’t confuse this with stupidity because it’s Trump.
The troops aren’t “going home”. They are being moved to more important fronts on the new world war being raged. We are IN ww3. It might not feel like it, but when you live through it it’s going to not be as obvious as a history book.
This means pressure is being put on the nations of Europe to build up their military power. “For too long” the US has paid the bill for Imperialist military. You, Europeans, are the beneficiaries of American Imperialism just as we are (I am) as Americans.
Now, if you disagree with the above it’s likely for a sense of nationalism, or a sense of pride in your own democracies. I get that. But don’t let that feeling of the past distract you from the present. Because, if you feel a false sense of comfort is thinking “we aren’t like that” you will think that all the way into a nationalist movement that will lie to you.
A nationalist movement that may even critize America and its actions towards Europe. However, if you are not actively combatting the xenophobia, Islamiphobia, and anti China propaganda that is fueling it; well, your nationalist movement will be nothing more than a tool of American Imperialism.
Your countries will fall into fear propaganda to build their militaries as the growing oil crisis builds. “We must protect ourselves” your politicians will say.
What you need to be advocating for is a complete and absolute divestment and sanction from America and its actions. And, materially, the only option for your states to maintain themselves is to become major trade allies with China.
You don’t have an option. You don’t get to stay neutral. You either side with China and work towards renewable energy and pay the cost of the disconnect with the US. Or, you play pretend, and build up your militaries that will inevitably be used as cattle to the slaughter of what American empire and it’s capitalist class are planning.
Edit: To the downvotes. My thesis in this comment is literally to advocate for boycott, divestment, and sanctions on my own country (America). I recognize the role of my country and how it damages the world. Are the downvotes because you don’t want to accept your own connections to that country?
You believe that people disagreeing with you do so as a point of pride?
I’ll wait for someone to actually disagree with me and provide a reason why. But, no, not entirely. But most Europeans are very rightfully prideful in “not being American”. I can understand that. But I think because of that they refuse to accept Europes material and economic interest are dependent on America and its military power.
It will make them believe that building their own military and “distancing” itself morally from the US will change that. But, it won’t. The only reason for military building in Europe is to serve later in the interest of the west in ww3 against China.
If Europeans really wanted to distance themselves from America. They would become energy independent through renewable energy; and become allied with eastern superpowers like China. This would leave America alone in its failures.
Building a military strength while still being dependent on American empire for the economy and energy is doing nothing but building a military for the use of that empire.
I don’t want us to align with any superpower. Not the US but also not China. Or India or Russia. And to have enough nuclear deterrent to make that a reality through MAD.
But yea American ties being severed is a good thing. It will take time to build up our own military deterrence but our biggest enemy Russia has overexerted themselves against Ukraine anyway so it will take them years to become a threat to us again.
And renewable energy has been a priority of the EU for years.
No news sources report where the troops are going, so the most likely destination is a return to the USA.
The current military buildup isn’t a response to China or inherently supportive of U.S. foreign policy goals, it’s a reaction to Russian aggression. The current U.S. administration is glad to let fascism spread, and thus is doing nothing to stop Russia, but that just means Europe needs to continue supporting the defense of Ukraine, demonstrating the independence of its own foreign policy in the process.
This isn’t the Cold War, and foreign relations don’t have to be purely about siding with either the U.S. or China; the EU can and should stand on its own as a superpower in its own right. The U.S. is being weaponized for fascism under Trump, but that doesn’t solve the problem of China being an undemocratic nation conducting ethnic cleansing against its non-Han citizens and actively interfering in the sovereignty of Taiwan. A push towards green energy serves to boost China’s soft power, but it doesn’t fix those problems, nor account for the massive amounts of fossil fuels still being consumed to power the Chinese economy (including 25% of global coal consumption).
People are idiots and apparently need to touch the stove first.
