US plans to cut troops in Europe by a third

[ze_dscherman]

The US is preparing to cut the number of troops stationed in Europe by up to a third, diplomats said on Tuesday. This will be one of the biggest reductions since American soldiers were first based there after the second world war.


Washington will not establish new permanent bases in eastern Europe - allaying fears that the Pentagon was preparing to punish some countries of "old Europe" for their opposition to the US-led war against Iraq.

SNIP

The US has 119,000 troops in Europe, 80,000 of which are stationed in Germany. At the height of the Cold War, Washington had more than 300,000 troops in western Europe.

Russia has warned against moves by Nato or the US to shift forces eastwards once seven new countries, all former communist states, join the European Union in May

More: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1073281521556&p=1012571727092

[leftyandproud]

1. um...good?

bout time I say...now we need to get rid of the other 2/3. We have absolutely NO reason to keep troops in Europe today...There is no justification for it. It's just a waste of money and manpower. Bring em home.

[leftchick]

2. I am afraid they won't be coming home....

Perhaps these are the soldiers they are coming up with until a draft.

[LiberalVoice]

3. I agree.

They're probably not coming home..."Our" government needs our soldiers in Iraq and the other countries * and his cronies plan on invading.

[malachi]

12. Agreed. Bet the house on the draft being

reinstated. Without offering the possibility of being stationed in Europe to new recruits, plus the fact that potential recruits have to know that their chances of being sent to some god-forsaken hell hole in the Middle East are excellent, there is absolutely no way that the Armed Forces will be able to meet the manpower numbers without a draft.

[DarkPhenyx]

4. There is still a sizable and necessary need...

...to keep troops stationed in Europe. Forward deployed staging areas with an advance force of men and materials is just one of them.

[leesa]

6. Since when does the US get to position troops wherever it wants too?

Do you see any foreign bases on our soil? The world's not our sandbox for the little boys to play with.

[DarkPhenyx]

7. How often do you see issues...

...in the Western Hemisphere that require the Eastern Hemisphere to deploy troops here? There are, however, foreign troops stationed here in the United States. Not anywhere near the numbers that we are deployed in there, however it is still true. You might also want to check on what the opinion is about having a base in your neighborhood. Yes, there are some people who are against it, but the majority of the people living in and around the bases are happy to have them there. The governments are thrilled to have them there, and the country at large either likes the idea, or is ambivalent about it.

In answer to your other question, we ahve to have permission to deploy our troops in another, friendly, country every time we do it. Even in countries where we already have bases. Do you remember at all Turkey telling us we couldn't use our bases in Turkey for the Iraq invasion, or taht we couldn't fly over their country to get there?

Apparently you have a very disparaging view of the military though. This of course makes you agruments come out childish and reactionary.

[Kellanved]

8. actually

Yes, for example the German Air Force has a base in the US.

[freestatevet]

9. Actually

The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) does not have a base in the US. They run a flight training school which is a tenant unit on Holloman AFB, NM; home to the USAF's 49th Fighter Wing. Just as our "US" bases in Europe are not really US bases at all, the Luftwaffe "base" in NM is really an American base.

[DarkPhenyx]

10. The point would be though...

...that there are indeed foreign troops deployed on US soil. Just as there are British troops deployed in Germany, and around the world, and there are French troops deployed in Germany, and around the world....

As to the status of the bases we are on they are American soil in a foreign country. If I recall correctly they are leased to the US and are considered soverign territory. Just like consulates and embassies.

[freestatevet]

11. No, doesn't work that way

For example, the US air base at RAF Mildenhall has a US Wing Commander and an RAF Station Commander. The UK station commander is the UK "boss" of the base and is there to represent the fact that the base is a UK base leased by the US. Even the name "RAF Mildenhall" signifies that it is a UK and not a US base. The base remains Her Majesty's sovereign territory and the UK retains complete control over the base. US laws apply to US personnel on the base, but so do UK laws. If the US military wants to build anything or restrict access or any such thing, they need UK approval. Like when they wanted to fence in the administrative part of the bas e a few years ago. As a matter of fact, the signs on the fence at RAF Mildenhall read "This is a prohibited place, within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act..." That is in accordance with UK law, not US law.

That said, I can not tell you what the SOTA is for bases outside the UK and Germany (the German's have an arrangement similar to the UK--the bases are German territory not US.)

And yes, there are foreign troops on US soil; in lots of places.

[Kellanved]

13. ok

Holloman is still an AFB base - that is a major difference. But that aside the situation is pretty similiar: German Supermarkets, German Schools, no US official in chain of command...

OF course another major difference is that Germany pays for the use of Holloman AFB :evilgrin:

[freestatevet]

14. Sure there

is a US official in the chain of command: the 49FW/CC. If he says they don't fly, then they don't fly. He "owns" Holloman.

[Mari333]

5. The US has thousands of soldiers being prepared as we speak

at numerous facilities in the US, including my stepson, to go to Iraq this month..they are recieving "special training", i.e., "how not to get your body blown to bits with shabby equipment, lousy food, inadequate Humvees, and citizenry who hate you"
Its pretty depressing. Many of them are weekend reserve people.
Hell, they are going in there with morale low just from the start.
Nonetheless, there always seems to be reshuffling of troops and who knows what Rummy has up his proverbial sleeve to force us into now if hes demanding a reshuffle.
If theres a Hell, its got rooms reserved for Rummy and his cohorts.