President Trump’s polarizing plan to pull thousands of U.S. troops from Germany has been put on indefinite hold so President Biden and his aides can review the decision, the commander of U.S. forces in Europe said Wednesday.
The move is part of a early pattern emerging in the new administration: The Pentagon under new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is moving as quickly as any department in the federal government to examine — and reverse — key parts of the Trump legacy, from ending a ban on transgender soldiers and dismissing last-minute Trump appointees to freezing the previous administration’s troop deployments and withdrawal orders.
Mr. Austin made another momentous step Wednesday, ordering a services-wide two-month “stand down” for commanders and those in the ranks to address the problem of political extremism in the military, a problem highlighted by the participation of active-duty personnel and veterans in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
Mr. Trump’s Germany order, a product of the need to re-think European forces as well as his own personal unhappiness with the cost of the mission and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, was one decision seen as virtually certain to be modified after the election.
Last summer, the Department of Defense laid out plans to reposition about 11,000 troops from Germany with some expected to return to the United States while others would go to other posts within Europe.
“The previous planning … has been put on freeze so that our secretary of defense and this administration could conduct a thorough review of everything that has transpired,” Air Force Gen. Tod D. Wolters, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told reporters in a telephone press conference.
The plans had included relocating the headquarters of U.S. European Command from Stuttgart, Germany to Mons, Belgium — also the location for NATO headquarters. Germany had long been the central hub for U.S. military missions on the continent and in the Middle East.
“There were so many pieces and parts to the plan, we could probably sit here for weeks and guess on the depth and how far along we were,” Gen. Wolters said. “But in all those cases, there were branches and sequels with multiple options.”
Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper argued the shift could help bolster security in Europe by moving U.S. troops closer to the border with Russia. But Mr. Trump made no secret of his anger at Germany, accusing its leaders of not spending enough on their own defense.
Gen. Wolters said the incoming administration has given U.S. European Command its new marching orders.
“We need to conduct a thorough review, cradle to grave, in all areas,” he said. “After they’re allowed to conduct that review, we’ll go back to the drawing board.”
It wasn’t clear how far along military officials had gotten with the withdrawal plans before the incoming Biden administration put a hold on them.
Last month, Mr. Austin spoke with his German counterpart, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, and expressed his gratitude to Germany for “continuing to serve as a great host for U.S. forces.” He noted the importance of Germany to the NATO alliance and expressed his desire for continued consultation, Pentagon officials said.
German officials acknowledged they had been blindsided by Mr. Trump’s sudden order to withdraw the American troops. Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday that whatever decision is made about the U.S. military presence in Germany, it’ll be done in consultation with their government.
“There won’t be any surprises,” he said.
The Biden administration also has taken a hard look at the May 1 deadline to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, set by the Trump administration in a deal with the insurgent Taliban movement early last year. The Afghanistan Study Group, a bipartisan group of experts including retired Gen. Joseph Dunford, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is advocating that the current deadline be extended “in order to give the peace process sufficient time to produce an acceptable result.”
Mr. Kirby said the U.S. stands by its commitment for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan but added that the agreement also calls for the Taliban to renounce violence and cut ties with terrorist groups like al Qaeda.
“It’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement. But, we’re still committed to that,” he said last week.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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