That means to withdraw.
US to withdraw 12,000 troops from Germany in ‘strategic’ move – The US is set to withdraw almost 12,000 troops from Germany in what it described as a “strategic” repositioning of its forces in Europe.
About 6,400 troops will be sent home, with the rest moved to other Nato countries such as Italy and Belgium.
President Donald Trump said the move was a response to Germany failing to meet Nato targets on defence spending.
That means it’s a done deal.
President Donald Trump has selected an option for withdrawing U.S. military personnel from Germany and redeploying those forces elsewhere, the Pentagon announced Tuesday night.
The movement of 9,500 U.S. service members from Germany resurfaces claims made by the Trump administration that the NATO ally has been “delinquent in their payments” to the alliance.
Der Abzug von rund 9500 US-Soldaten aus Deutschland ist beschlossene Sache.
Not Donald Trump withdrawing American troops.
The Germans want a free ride and they’re offended at having finally been caught.
The Sorry State of Germany’s Armed Forces – Trump’s calls to withdraw U.S. troops from the country are impulsive, but Germany isn’t blameless.
The German armed forces are in a sorry state, and that’s not because Germany, more important to NATO’s efficacy as a collective defense pact than any other European member state, lacks the means to fix this problem. It does not.
Germany’s gross domestic product, valued at $4 trillion, ranks fourth in the world and first in Europe. The country is also Europe’s technological powerhouse. Indeed, in 2018, the World Economic Forum hailed it as the world’s leader in technological innovation.
And yet the German military remains riddled with problems. A damning 2019 report (available in an English-language summary) issued by the Bundestag’s then commissioner for the armed forces, Hans-Peter Bartels, summed up the problem.
PS: Please note here that the woman who ran the Bundeswehr for years and years and proved to be unable to fix it is now the woman EU technocrats (voters weren’t asked) have chosen to fix Europe.
Then, after somebody finally got him to take that stupid face mask off, he says “Berlin and Washington remain NATO partners but the U.S. relationship is now ‘complicated.’”
This, however, is more nonsensical than “mumpf blaf prawf” because there ain’t nothing complicated about it. You made an obligation, Germany. Many, many years ago (way long before Donald Trump came along). And you still haven’t lived up to it. Auf Wiedersehen already.
Then he praised Republican former Republican President George W. Bush and current Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden’s responses to the anti-racism protests, telling the newspaper: “This gives me hope that there are responsible voices in both camps. I really hope that the sensible ones will prevail.”
Der Außenminister absolviert ein unfassbares Tagespensum. Er mahnt, warnt, fordert, hebt auf, äußert Verständnis, erklärt sich solidarisch oder äußert sein Mitgefühl – und das praktisch ununterbrochen, manchmal mehrmals pro Stunde.
Or lost before the translation even began?
”‘Great again’ but at the expense of neighbors and partners?” That’s an odd thing for a German president to criticize at a security conference.
Granted, Germany is anything but ‘great again’ (because that’s how Germans insist Germany must forever remain) but when it comes to security and promised NATO contributions, Germany has been living at the expense of its neighbors and partners for many, many years now.
Germany’s president kicked off the annual Munich Security Conference on Friday by taking a swipe at President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy approach.
In his opening remarks, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that the United States would put its own interests first at the expense of allies.
“In this scenario, the security of one is the insecurity of others.”
But nowhere near what the Germans pledged to do long, long ago.
Germany to match US contribution to NATO budget – From 2021, Germany will increase its contribution to the NATO budget to be in line with what the US pays. NATO officials hope the move will diffuse tensions surrounding the cost of maintaining the military alliance.
Gee. I wonder what – or who? – finally got the Germans to act?
Starting in 2021, the share of the NATO budget covered by Germany will increase from 14.8% to 16.35%, while the share covered by the US will decrease from 22.1% to 16.35%…
NATO officials hope the new agreement will alleviate some of the tension around the topic of NATO financing. US President Donald Trump has complained that the US covers more than its fair share of the costs for the alliance. He has demanded that other member states make good on their pledges to increase their NATO contribution to 2% of GDP by 2024 (pledged nearly twenty years ago), a goal that Germany will not reach.
Merkel on Wednesday vowed to reach the 2% mark by the “early 2030s.”
I mean Mein Kramp-Karrenbauer, of course. But she is a Kampf-Karrenbauer now, you know.
Or you can just call her AKK, if you prefer, although that sounds like a machine gun, too. Or just call her Mini-Merkel if you like that better (that’s her official unofficial designation). But I dunno. Mini-Merkel just doesn’t have the punch a defense minister needs to have with his name, don’t you think? Especially when it’s a she. Again. It just doesn’t exude any shock and awe. Well, shock, maybe, but nothing this government does can awe me anymore.
Merkel protege AKK given defence job seen as poisoned chalice – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds new EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen as German defence minister.
Angela Merkel’s favoured successor as chancellor has been appointed Germany’s new defence minister in an unexpected and potentially risky move after Ursula von der Leyen’s confirmation as European commission president…
The job of defence minister is widely seen as a poisoned chalice. Germany’s armed forces, which critics maintain have long been chronically underfunded, are consistently accused of inefficiency and of having inadequate or defective equipment.
That means secret breach of promise.
Mr Trump accused Berlin of falling short of its NATO commitments during a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House yesterday (June 12). The US President demanded that they increase their defence spending from one percent to two percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
NATO set a target for every member to spend two percent of GDP on defence by 2024.
But Berlin has only pledged to increase spending to 1.5 percent by that date.
Deutschlands heimlicher Wortbruch gegenüber der Nato.
Or everyday German schizophrenia in action, if you prefer – in this case with regard to Germany’s famous/infamous green energy policy.
“Germany is not a trendsetter. Germany is a dependent tag behind. Gas will come from Russia in the future while we impose sanctions on the Russians at the same time. Electricity will come from nuclear reactors and coal-fired power stations in neighboring countries while we simultaneously disparage them for being environmental villeins. Security will be provided by the NATO partner USA who we permanently abuse in the most savage manner. Sadly, political Germany suffers from megalomania and ineptitude at the same time. If one wants something, one finds a way. If one doesn’t want something, one finds the reasons.”
Deutschland ist nicht Vorreiter. Deutschland ist abhängiger Hinterherhinker. Gas kommt künftig aus Russland, das gleichzeitig mit Sanktionen behängt wird. Strom kommt künftig aus den Atomreaktoren und Kohlekraftwerken der Nachbarländer, die gleichzeitig als Umweltsünder und Schrottreaktoren verunglimpft werden. Sicherheit kommt vom NATO-Partner USA, der permanent aufs Übelste beschimpft wird. Das politische Deutschland leidet leider an Größenwahn, gepaart mit Unfähigkeit. Wer etwas will, findet Wege. Wer etwas nicht will, findet Gründe.
After yesterday’s tragic crash of two Eurofighters during a training mission over Northern Germany, the German Luftwaffe is down to one operational plane of that design.
But they are really, really good planes, we are told. Again and again. Top of the line state of the art. But state of the art isn’t even good enough these days, especially when most of them don’t even fly. That’s why the Eurofighter is now to be replaced with the “Future Combat Air System.” This one won’t have to leave the ground, either, I assume, which will make things a lot easier. It will just beam to the future and do its future combat fighting there.
Nach Unglück: Hat die Luftwaffe wirklich nur noch einen einsatzfähigen „Eurofighter“?
Observing Hermann 