“Putin is happydancing” US Liberals react to proposed pullout of 12000 US troops from Germany

But we add some actual reactions from inside Germany!

By Tom Winter Last updated Jul 30, 2020

Congress’ ideal of bipartisanship is only something these days for belligerence. And CNN, for instance, happily plays along. Note how CNN covered the news of the troop withdrawal from Germany:

The US is moving forward with President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany, a decision that has attracted bipartisan congressional opposition and roiled key allies who see the move as a blow to NATO.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper acknowledged the plan will cost billions to execute when he formally announced the decision on Wednesday from the Pentagon. US defense officials said it will take years to relocate the troops.
The plan to pull US troops from the long-time NATO ally has been met with broad bipartisan opposition amid concerns that it will weaken the US military’s position vis a vis Russia, however the Trump Administration has decided to proceed with the move.

A blow to NATO! Oh how I would love to get Charles De Gaulle’s response to that! That’s easy, actually, since he wrote it to President Lyndon Baines Johnson: “France is determined to regain on her whole territory the full exercise of her sovereignty, at present diminished by the permanent presence of allied military elements or by the use which is made of her airspace; to cease her participation in the integrated commands; and no longer to place her forces at the disposal of NATO.”

Curiously, the quotation in the headline was the reaction of a German professor here in the United States. Other commenters pick up on the gift-to-Russia angle:

“I honestly have trouble processing the WHY behind all of these things that help Putin. I want to believe it is just ignorance/incompetence… But at some point extreme incompetence and maliciousness are indistinguishable.”

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And pulling US troops out of Germany is “bad for our country:”
“Who could have known that have a rich New York a-hole stuck in the 80s could have been so bad for our country?”
And ever-reliable MSNBC claims the partial withdrawal “Vladimir Putin’s Dream”

Germany’s Die Linke Party in contrast, is far from satisfied with just pulling out 12,000 US troops. They’re more like “get them all out of here, nukes and all:”

“The US troops in Baden-Wurtemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Hesse are no contribution to “Peace in Europe and the World” as Kretschmann insists. Instead they are the hub for wars that violate International Law, against, for example, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. Ramstein in Rheinland-Pfalz and US AFRICOM in Stuttgart have, for their main function, illegal drone warfare, and they endanger worldwide security.”

Stopp Airbase Ramstein — This movement in Germany may also be happydancing

And furthermore, this:
“DIE LINKE demands the withdrawal of all US soldiers from Germany, including the US nuclear weapons stored in Büchel. US-AFRICOM and US-EUCOM in Stuttgart ought to be used for civil purposes. New neighborhoods with social housing, small businesses, cultural institutions and meeting centers could be created.”