“These adjustments will achieve the basic principles of strengthening the deterrence of the United States and NATO in opposition to Russia, strengthening NATO, reassuring allies, and America’s strategic flexibility,” Esper said.
TRUMP SAYS HE WANTS BIG TROOP REDUCTION IN GERMANY
Reaction from Wendy Osefu of Johns Hopkins University and president of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp.
A number of the forces will go to Italy, while the headquarters of the U.S. European Command and Special Operations Command Europe will be relocated from Stuttgart, Germany, to Belgium.
Esper told reporters wednesday that the movements, which will charge billions of dollars “to a figure,” will keep some 24,000 soldiers in Germany and move other forces east to the Black Sea and Baltic regions.
Some of the troops returning to the United States will then abandon the “back to Europe” rotary deployments, he added.
Germany is a hub for U.S. operations in the Middle East and Africa. The resolution of staying with almost a portion of the 12,000 troops affected in Europe, according to the Associated Press, is a transparent movement through the Pentagon to appease its allies by avoiding their total withdrawal from the region.
And through the deployment of forces in the east, it sends a message to Russia that the United States is not cutting off its commitment in the region and remains in a position for Eastern Europe of any aggression through Moscow.
Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed his help with the plan while acknowledging that it will take “months to plan and years to complete.” He was briefed on the factor last week, and said that “the concept of realigning the US military’s stance in Europe” is solid.
GERMAN OFFICIAL CALLS TRUMP’S WISH TO INCENDER ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ TROOPS
But members of Trump’s own policy have criticized the troop movement as a gift to Russia and a risk to America’s national security. Twenty-two Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee recently wrote a letter to Trump saying that a reduced U.S. commitment to protecting Europe would inspire aggression and opportunism across Russia.
Trump announced last month that he needs a number of U.S. troops active in Germany of approximately 36,000 to less than 25,000. The movement of forces out of the country has been the subject of rumors for a long time and is in line with the Pentagon’s efforts to send more troops to the Indo-Pacific.
The president said Wednesday that the resolution is more directly similar to his anger at Germany’s failure to meet NATO’s defense spending targets.
“We’re reducing the size because they don’t pay their bills. It’s very simple. They are criminals,” the president told reporters at the White House, adding that he may reconsider the resolution to withdraw troops from Germany “if they start.” paying his bills.”
Trump called Germany a “criminal” for failing to meet NATO’s 2014 target for members to avoid budget cuts and scuttle at least 2% of their gross domestic defense product until 2024.
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He claimed that the Germans had overlooked the United States in industry and defense, noting that “until they pay” more for their own defense, it would do so with U.S. troops.
In general, the United States has about 47,000 infantry soldiers and a civilian corps of workers in Germany, spread across several smaller bases, headquarters, and facilities. Most of the 36,000 in active duty are located at a handful of larger military and air force bases, adding Ramstein Air Force Base, a hub in the region. There are also 2,600 national guards and reserve forces in Germany and only about 12,000 civilians running for the Department of Defense.
Lucas Tomlinson of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to the report.