Germany has the second highest US overseas military presence after Japan. Source: Visual Capitalist
While US President Donald Trump has tweeted that he is withdrawing US troops from Germany to punish the Germans for buying gas from Russia and for not contributing enough to NATO, a survey of public opinion has showed that – in stark contrast to their politicians – many German people are in favour of reducing the US military footprint in the country.
Shortly after the decision was announced Trump reiterated that it was a punitive measure intended to castigate Germany for not reneging on the Nordstream 2 gas project and for underspending on the military (and, presumably, for not subsidizing US-based weapons manufacturers):
Germany pays Russia billions of dollars a year for Energy, and we are supposed to protect Germany from Russia. What’s that all about? Also, Germany is very delinquent in their 2% fee to NATO. We are therefore moving some troops out of Germany!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020
But far from being seen as a threat, a YouGov poll for the dpa news agency found that more Germans are in favour of the departure of the 35,000-strong US military occupation force than are opposed to the move.
42 per cent said they supported withdrawal while just 37 per cent wanted the soldiers to stay, with 21 per cent undecided.
The idea of a US military withdrawal enjoys significant support from across the political spectrum in Germany but is particularly strong with the supporters of certain parties.
Voters for the left-wing Die Linke were particularly in favour of withdrawal, with 67 per cent backing the idea, as were supporters of the far-right AfD, on 55 per cent. Greens also back withdrawal by 48 per cent.
Voters for the centre-right were generally less supportive of withdrawal, with 35 per cent of CDU voters, the SPD at 42 per cent, and the FDP at 37 per cent.
The same poll also found significant opposition to militarism in general in the country. Just 15 per cent of all Germans agree with Angela Merkel that the country should increase its military spending to 2 per cent of GDP by 2024, with 36 per cent saying the country already spends too much on its military.
US troops have been stationed in Germany since they occupied the country in the aftermath of the Second World War, constituting the second largest US overseas military presence after Japan, which has also been the subject of a massive permanent US military occupation since the mid-1940s. If the drawdown in Germany is taken to its conclusion, South Korea will have the dubious distinction of hosting the second largest foreign US military presence worldwide.
There are between 30 and 40 US military bases in Germany, a significant reduction from the 200-300 that were located there until the end of the Cold War. LINK
The views of the German public on the issue are in sharp contrast with those of the country’s politicians. Five out of six parliamentary groups in the Bundestag have been opposing the withdrawal, with only the Left Party saying that the permanent US military presence must be terminated completely.
“Instead of strengthening NATO, it’s going to weaken the alliance,” Norbert Rottgen, who stands to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel at the helm of the Christian Democrats Union, said of the US move. The leader of the Christian Social Union, Markus Soder, also warned that the redeployment of US troops out of Germany “puts a burden on the German-American relationship.”
Last week, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced that the Pentagon would withdraw almost 12,000 troops from Germany, which was a significant increase from the initially planned number of 9,500. LINK
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Tens of thousands of ZioAmerican troops will still remain in Germany, this is not a withdawl but a cover operation to get Zio troops closer to the Russian border.
They should be moved in Poland.
How will that help anyone or the world ?
Yes, will make little bitches cry foul and the world will be entertained.
it will accelerate the collapse of US empire—they spend huge amounts to colonize but cannot address their burning plywood cities, poverty and food lines
I Don t want to be rude but I hope they are not. When Germans start to feel too much confident bad things happen.
Usually, to the Germans.
They were better off pre Bismark.
Better? split up, used and misused in imperial divide and conquer tactics by imperial powers and wannabes like the UK and France?
Germans fighting against Germans?
Had the imperial powers of the time allowed us our rightful place as equals in Europe, instad of a semi colony, history would still see us as the cultural prime power and not the fascist we evolved into.
I am sure we can agree all the world would have been a better place.
The last time the world was a better place, was after an asteroid crashed into the Earth 65 million years ago, lol.
You become an empire, when the neighbours cannot stop you.
Not by being “allowed”.
Yeah, that is the circle of voinlence. Though the irony is, that the huge majority never wanted an empire, like the UK or other European powers had.
The few small colonies were the last and without any importance, the politicans promoting imperial ambitions were a small minority seen as nutjobs.
We just wanted to be able to trade freely, sail freely, stand as a united nation as equal, not above but also not below anyone.
which nations colonized nations in Africa, Latin America, Arabia, India, Asia? UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey,Spain
the treaty of versailles was designed to destroy Germany—the development of national socialism was a predictable response….even Adorno found that amerikans of this era were far more anti-semitic than ordinary Germans were
Almost the same. The Holy Roman empire (not holy and not roman actually), Livonian and Teutonian Orders followed the same aggressive policy. 1242 year – Ice battle of germans with Novgorod’s duke Alexandr. 1410th year – battle of Grunwald (Poland, Lithuania and russian dukedoms inside Lithuania) against teutonic knights, 1558-1583 – Livonian war. Add aggression of Sweden to this picture. 1240th year – battle of Neva with Alexandr. “Christian” orders against christians.
“i’ve learnt to hate the Russians,
All through my whole life,
If another war comes, its them we must fight,
To hate them and fear them,
To run and to hide,
And accept it all bravely,
With God on our side”.
Bob Dylan song.
“With God on our side”
Gott mit uns.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7-cfbTXkAAiOvW.jpg
“The second world war, came to an end,
We forgave the Germans, and then we were friends,
Though they murdered six million,
In the ovens they fried,
The Germans now too have,
God on their side”.
It’s a funny old world bro.
Six million, aha… Bob Dillan is Robert Zimmerman, that’s why just 6. “Circulation: 55 million lifes” (1990)
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88505275d4dec02877c7323a465b60e61aaf955426dc912de546c1b7c07633f5.jpg
If he had put all that debate into a song, I wouldn’t have listened, then not understood how Nazi anti Slav genocide was acceptable in the West, to the elites.
There was no Bob Dylanski to correct him.
Bob Dylanski is also jewish name.) Or polish.
I am pretty confident and a German, i guess you should run now and hide.
Or dont and we will conquer the world tonight.
Nice logic of yours.
As long as our country is not getting strangled by superpowers like before WWI and bcs of Versaille, you have nothing to fear.
Only idiots hit a wolf. Intelligent people know the law of cause of effect and show others respect, and long as they receive it themselves.
Trump should send more U.S forces to Israel, they are always welcomed!
Like the USS Liberty?
With friends like you, who needs enemies.
the jews in palestine know their days are numbered and desperately trying to start a war in order to force the yankee-twats to engage Iran with weapons and so that the jews can bring out their nukes and start defending their illegal occupation by nuking the neighbours. the beirut attack is mossad to the last letter and that just tells us the grade of desperation in tel aviv. make short thrift with the jews and send them into their next diaspora (6 feet under for the lot)
Sometimes I ask myself if Israel can survive without US BLS, it’s a genuine question, I don’t want to polemize
It’s liek asking can Syria survive without a Russian help, we both can, it just makes it harder but sure it’s possible.
It must be possible, if not, a war between Israel and its neighbours will annihilate all of them, both sides.
My grandparents smuggled Jews out of Germany during WWII. The day the war ended, the SS had their names at the top of the list of those to be arrested.
They would be shocked at the way Palestinians have been and are treated.
Both sides need to give up the hate, it only brings death.
I also say to those here who dream of Israel being destroyed tomorrow a few things:
1. Nukes. Enough to enforce any terms if needed on MENA.
2. Backing: Even if the US would fall out, the EU and Putin personally have declared numerous times that they will protect Israel from extiction.
That does not bode well for some of the Jew-Haters and Putin-Fanboys here, so they ignore it. But Israel is in no position to have its survivial threatend, not now and not in a long time surely.
Thank you.
No problem Zion. ;) Even more so i am now seen by the Islamists here as “Islamophobes” Because i say Wahabbism is a form of Isalmic doctrine and as a “Zionist” chill and “Troll” because i speak up against their hate fuled ignorance.
;)
in this you are correct
” Putin personally have declared numerous times that they will protect Israel from extiction”
Let’s check. Give us links to any credible source. Not CNN, “Fox” or any branch of “Axel Springer AG” or “Bertelsmann’s”. Last two are main holder of MSM in Germany and both are pro-atlantist.
Or eve better, Trump should move to Israel altogether. Eventually you’ll find a reason to put him in jail and the world gets rid of him. Even that day, my precious Bibi is still the PM.
But I doubt you’d welcome Trump when he has no money or power anymore.
Trump will always have money, he is a rich man. But I don’t judge people by their money, only by their actions. Trump proved he cares about our safety more than Obama for example, but less than Bush (which for me was their best president).
Oh yes, Trump proved he cares about your safety more than safety of Americans, particularly the poor schmucks who put in him office to exactly not do that.
How about you take him? I believe a you make a lot of Americans happy! They even may throw an Ivanka in to sweeten the deal.
well dem stupid yankee-twats are on their way out,like it or not. the first step of 12000 out from germany is just the start although the more than stupid poles try to fuck europe up as much as they can (and trust me, poles are stupid). but with a national debt in the region of 26500 billion dollars and a contraction of 32% year on year in the gdp, the yankee-twats will find it hard to continue the shit they are staging and financing around the world today. and once the yankee-twats have realized the crappy situation they’re in, they’ll have to rethink the idea of world-dominance. the revolt against the twats is everywhere today and it’s beyond their ability to unmess the mess they’ve caused.
If the punishment is to be abandoned by the Yankee military, there are a lot of countries that would love to be punished too.
No need for name calling or click bait titles SF. You know yourself that the US presence in Germany has been opposed by the majority of Germans for at least 3-4 decades, and that Anti-US/Anti-Imperial sentiment here in Germany is one of, it not the biggest in all of NATO countries, also consistently for decades.
But when you occupy a country like the US and you Russians did, and then implement your control over the ruling elites with think tanks, secrect occupation laws that are contrary even to our constitution, build up intellegence services that are controlled by occupying states such as the US and Russia..
Why do you think the will of the majority then has no real power?
Sorry SF, that was a bit harsh. I forgot your country is still even more suffering of US influence after the “leaders” that you voted for sold you out to the US even without US occupation for lied promices of cash and power.
And the oligarchic class still is selling you out and dreaming of being a US colony to this day.
It seems we Germans have less to complain than you.
I doubt they ever felt inferior. Even if they did that is better for the whole continent. Last time they felt superior, things kinda got out of control:)))
In Germany the right-wing Nationalists have always wanted America out, but the left-liberals were previously more-or-less ok with them staying. Now because all the German left-liberals hate Trump so much, they in-turn hate America as well. Thus the pendulum has swung in favour of anti-American politics.
Neo-cons are left to cry on their own.
It depends who the us army obeys to, not long ago it was London banks, now it seems to have changed a bit
I see no down side in this for Germany and the German people.