Initially announced weeks ago and announced against just a few days ago, the US plan to cut US troops from Germany remains controversial, and Democrats are pushing a bill in both the House and the Senate aimed at blocking the move.
Introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the bill would prohibit any withdrawal of forces in Europe without meeting a number of conditions. The bill is aimed specifically at precluding the Germany drawdown.
Rep. Engel called it an overwhelming bipartisan rebuke to Trump’s scheme, and claimed that the only reason the cuts were being pushed was that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted them, and Trump was willing to oblige.
A lot of the specifics are not clear on this. Germany has said several times they’ve never been informed of the cuts by the US. Top US Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian confirmed against Thursday that he has not received any orders on a Germany cut, even though as the head of the US Air Force in Europe, he’d be expected to do a lot of this.
To think that the progressives within the party will take the anti-interventionist position is very wishful thinking. Typical TDS will ensue.
Progressivism always had a hypocritical streak.
The fruits of empire wash down sweeter with a glass of crocodile tears.
Demanding that Trump be the dictator an unilaterally withdraw troops with no elite and Pentagon support and half the country unconvinced, reveals more a love of unilateral governance than love of democracy.
Trump should have withdrawn from the 9/11 wars, but therre were many ways the Deep State could srike back at that, including laying off all those returned troops into a jobless economy.
Engel and Menendez are not progressives, though I don’t generally disagree with you main sentiment.
How, exactly, is the withdrawal “anti-interventionist” ? Do you know where those troops are going ? Likely, Poland, anywhere but home and into civilian life.
There’s not likely to be a war in Poland to intervene in.
U.S. troops in Germany are more like ready reserves in the real interventions German base hubs service, though their materiale is more likely to be shipped in an emergency.
Returning those soldiers to the U.S., might simply get them promptly unemployed just to punish the policy of withdrawal.
The Dems would… This is just another play at grabbing Commander in Chief powers from the President. When the President seeks authorization on military actions, its a courtesy, not a requirement.
The POTUS has the sole Constitutional authority to move the troops. Its that simple. Congress has the powers to declare war and fund or defund the military… and that’s it.
However, a Germany drawdown might presage other drawdowns, like from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, till the U.S. presence is trickled away from the major 9/11 wars hotspots.
“In my imagination, the POTUS has the sole Constitutional authority to move troops.”
Once Congress has called the troops into “the actual service of the United States” by declaring war, that’s true.
Under all other circumstances, it’s false.
Tom – what are the troops doing in Germany if they are not in “actual service of the United States?” Are the troops not under the command structure, ultimately under the president, if we are not at war?
Thomas,,that is a stretch! LOL!! 🙂
The Constitutional powers of the Commander in Chief powers are fairly explicit, if contended.
https://www.heritage.org/constitution/articles/2/essays/86/commander-in-chief
Congress has been constantly seeking precedent for tactical control over the U.S. military during the Trump administration, often under the guise of more peaceful intentions like ordering withdrawals or preventing an attack on Iran.
Checks and balances are a “courtesy” ?
There are no hard checks and balances other than the President’s ability to move troops versus Congress’ power to fund the troops in the first place.
In an extreme, Congress may act to impeach a President and even defund the army, but by then the President has already acted.
Read between the lines of the conventional understanding of the Barbary Wars, the supposed model of Constitutional War Powers.
https://freedomsfoundry.com/2013/09/07/presidential-war-powers-and-the-first-barbary-war-1801/
Presidential cooperation with Congress was entirely voluntary, based on the need for Congress to fund newly raised military forces the President needed.
This check obviously disappears with a standing military already funded in depth.
He he withdrew from those three countries he’d win re-election.Also needs to stop threatening Iran and sucking up to Israel.
There are a lot of Germans out there who would just love to see the U.S. occupiers out of their country.
A whole lot. We should encourage them.
Certainly there is a bipartisan group which doesn’t want to change the status quo. Yet, that is not what the bill is about. Read the link in the article, it is about the process in disengagement. German bases are a hub to the ME, and Africa. Hospitals, transportation, other logistics. Without actual war policy change, these systems will just have to be moved to some other foreign location at huge expense. Maybe start with shutting down US military RnR facilities there, golf courses and hotels. Maybe then the officer corps will lose interest in Germany. Save some money too.
It’s the war policy that needs to change. This is a start.
Policy first, then, without the logistical need for US Germany bases, they can draw down. Congress is not going to go along with shutting down logistics while the wars continue.
Congress is unlikely to change policy; removing capability, while far from reliable, is a means at the discretion of the President.
Congress could declare war with Russia tomorrow, but there’s nothing preventing Trump from repositioning troops and resources such that fighting does not and cannot take place.
“German bases are a hub to the ME…”
The great circle route from Washington to Baghdad crosses the southern tip of Germany.
Both Dems and Reps are crazy enough to move all that junk to Eye-ran.
Not really; Germany is a safe country from which to project power.
Attacking U.S. forces based in Germany, would be a violation of German sovereignty.
I wuz being facetious 🙂
Pardon me…
We’ve got bases all over the middle east. We hardly need to get there via Germany. We are long overdue to leave and Merkel has already asked the US to leave. It will be an economic hit to Germany but we’re not removing all troops just a few. The real problem is that we won’t see a reduction in troops they’ll just be re-deployed elsewhere that they shouldn’t be.
In all these years through Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lybia, Yemen, etc what leader has emerged and called out the DOD for not upholding their oath? Not a damn one of them. They’re spineless cock suckers.,
Ramstein AFB in Germany is a critical logistics hob for all ME ops, and also the drone relay station for drone pilots flying from Nevada, USA.
Germany is also a critical medical hub, at Landstul, and a larger medical facility is being built at Weilerbach. Obviously, more casualties are expected in the coming years.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/09/germany-troops-withdrawal-nato-trump/
Trump’s troop drawdown is helpful, but those were essentially on-site reserves for overseas ops; threatening Russia was just a pretext.
Nah, no withdrawal but full-steam ahead. That’s us. We more than meet Einstein’s definition of being nuts.
“Rep. Engel called it an overwhelming bipartisan rebuke to Trump’s scheme, and claimed that the only reason the cuts were being pushed was that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted them, and Trump was willing to oblige.”
(((Rep. Engel))) called it an overwhelming Zionist-owned Congressional rebuke to Trump’s scheme, and that the Zionist-owned Congressional bill was being pushed because Neocons, AIPACers, & Netanyahu demanded it, and as America is Israel’s bitch, the Zionist schtupping of America will continue and an obsequious (((Congress))) will always be compelled to oblige.
There, fixed that for you.
Indeed. U.S. troops in Germany are hardly a realistic threat to Russia, as any real war would destroy those assets fairly quickly.
During the Yom Kippur War (1973),, at the height of Cold War I, U.S. materiale was stripped from German bases to aid Israel.
However, in 2017 the U.S. opened its first permanent military base in Israel. Israel is far better suited as a ME logistics hub, and Israel freely helps itself to U.S. weapons stockpiles in Israel.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/351274-us-opens-first-permanent-military-base-in-israel
In many ways, Germany is becoming an expensive redundancy. Israel can far more economically base AFRICOM and CENTCOM, and more importantly, have direct access to the bases and their resources.