OPINION:
One of President Trump’s favorite tactics is to upset the status quo to catch both friend and foe off balance. He has done just that with his recently-announced plan to pull 9,500 U.S. troops out of Germany.
If you listen only to European leaders, the media (both here and in Europe) and some in Congress who should know better, you’d believe that troop withdrawal will embolden Russian aggression, weaken NATO and otherwise thwart the purposes of the Atlantic Alliance. What utter nonsense.
Mr. Trump’s plan would move fewer than 30% of the almost 35,000 U.S. troops from Germany. He has said clearly that the withdrawal is in response to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s continued refusal to spend more on her nation’s defense.
In 2006 and again in 2014, NATO members agreed to spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. Germany increased its defense spending this year, but its investment in defense still falls far short of the 2% mark.
The European case against Mr. Trump’s move was best explained in a recent article in The Financial Times. The FT made its case in three points. First, that no one except Russia and China would benefit from the troop withdrawal. Second, that the announcement was made before Mr. Trump consulted with NATO members. Third, that the move raises further doubts about the U.S. commitment to defend Europe.
Those arguments were paralleled in a letter to Mr. Trump from 22 House Republicans led by Rep. Mac Thornberry. They told the president that reducing troop levels in Europe undermines NATO and would encourage Russian aggression. Let’s take each of those arguments in turn.
It’s impossible to believe that withdrawing a relatively few U.S. troops from Europe would lead to further Russian aggression such as its conquest of Crimea and continuing war against Ukraine. The United States, unlike the NATO nations, is providing significant aid — both lethal and nonlethal — to Ukraine’s government and army. The absence of significant aid from other NATO members is in stark contrast to what Mr. Trump has done.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, as I wrote on this page a few weeks ago, is building forces on Ukraine’s border. The fact that he has not decided to invade and attempt the open conquest of Ukraine is because of American aid, not anything the other NATO nations have done.
Just what would the troops Mr. Trump is withdrawing from Germany do in its defense? At the height of the Cold War there were about a quarter million U.S. troops in Germany. They were poised to stop a flood of Russian tanks coming through the Fulda Gap from what was then East Germany into West Germany. The few troops Mr. Trump is pulling out of Germany – indeed, the entire present force — would be sacrificial lambs in the face of such a massive Russian invasion.
The fact that Mr. Trump didn’t consult with the NATO nations before announcing his decision is a reasonable criticism. The president likes to act independently and should be more sensitive to our allies’ feelings. They should have been informed before the media was.
The president has repeatedly said that our commitment to defending our NATO allies is inviolate. The other NATO nations are less devoted to the common defense and very comfortable with deviating from major U.S. defense initiatives.
Germany has led the NATO nations in opposing major U.S. defense policies. For example, Germany, France and even the United Kingdom have continued to keep former President Obama’s nuclear weapons agreement with Iran alive. They are hoping that former Vice President Joe Biden defeats Mr. Trump in November, paving the way for the United States to rejoin that agreement.
Germany, too, has gone to great lengths to make itself more vulnerable to Russian aggression. Ms. Merkel has strongly supported construction of the Nord Stream Two pipeline which will bring Russian natural gas directly to Germany, making it highly dependent on Russian energy. That makes Russian aggression more, not less, likely. The ever-present threat that Russia could cut off Germany’s major gas supply would make Germany less likely to oppose any Russian aggression in Europe.
Mr. Thornberry, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, cannot seriously believe that the president’s plan to reduce troop strength in Germany will weaken NATO. He must understand that by neglecting their own defenses and appeasing our common enemies, the European NATO nations are weakening the alliance materially and politically.
The critics of Mr. Trump’s plan apparently believe that the withdrawal of troops from Germany means that they will be reassigned to bases in the United States. That, too, may be entirely wrong.
Poland, which is one of the more responsible of our NATO allies, has said it would welcome a greater U.S. troop presence in its nation. It even offered to build a “Fort Trump” as a new base for them. Mr. Trump should take Poland up on that offer.
NATO is being weakened, but not by the United States. For too many decades, most NATO nations have freeloaded on us, refusing to spend what they agreed to time and again. It’s time for the deadbeats of NATO to build their own defenses so that our forces could help defend them with less sacrifice of American lives.
• Jed Babbin, a deputy undersecretary of Defense in the George H.W. Bush administration, is the author of “In the Words of Our Enemies.”
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