Three questions on US troops moving from Germany
John R. Deni
On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper conducted a press conference on forward presence in Europe. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten and U.S. European Command commander Gen. Tod Wolters (by video feed) joined him. This follows on the heels of an announcement in June that the United States would be reducing the number of troops based in Germany. Here are three critical questions and answers regarding these two events:
1. Does the withdraw of U.S. troops from Germany fulfill the “five principles†outlined by the defense secretary in guidance provided to EUCOM following the June 2020 announcement?
A. Enhance deterrence — It is strikingly counterintuitive that a withdrawal of U.S. forward-based forces in Europe coupled with an increase in rotational Army deployments to southeastern Europe would strengthen deterrence. Of course, deterrence is in the eye of the beholder, and there is no certain way to know how Russia will perceive this. However, it is probably obvious to them, as it is to our allies, that when the United States forward stations troops in allied countries — with families — it represents a far stronger, more enduring, even bipartisan commitment to deterrence and a clearer signal of what Washington is willing to shed blood over. This is what our own allies tell us, in private and public. More broadly, given the president’s rhetoric regarding Germany and the fact that all of the announced troop moves involve either removing troops from Germany or cancelling plans to place additional troops in Germany, the United States risks sending the unmistakeable message to Russia that there is a deep cleavage currently existing within the trans-Atlantic community, principally between two of its most powerful members.
https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/07/30/3-questions-on-us-troops-rebasing-from-germany/?utm_source=clavis
