Quote:
Originally Posted by lukas1973
I guess most Germans would be very happy if the U.S. would close its bases in Germany. The German taxpayer has to pay quite a lot for these bases.
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I think you have a valid point, indeed after the collpase of the Soviet Union, the vast majortity of US Forces did go home, and it was entirely up to Americans at the time as to the future basing of personnel in Europe or the continuance of NATO.
The European nations naturally saw a peace dividend now that the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact were gone and took the opportunity to capitalise on this.
In terms of US Forces in Europe they provide the US with a logistical, communications and intelligence hub in relation to not just Russia and East but also the Middle East and Africa.
Vast US Medical Facilities in Germany saw numerous US Casaulties flown in during the US led wars in Iraq and Aghanistan, whilst US Service personnel deployed from Europe to the Middle East and Europe was a centre of logistics and communication. Not many Americans seem to realise that US Forces based in Europe regularly deployed to the Middle East often leaving largely empty barracks and airfields in Europe.
At the same time, US Planes have deployed from European bases on countless bombing missions and the US Navy had readily available support facilities in the Atlantic, North Sea/Norweigan Sea and right up to the Barents Sea and Arctic and right down to the Mediterranean and the Coast of Africa.
US Intelligence operates bases throughout Europe, and can listen in to every conceivable type of communications, whilst radar stations in Europe allow the US to view the entire globe much more easily and to target any threats much more quickly and this includes warning of nuclear and ballistic attack.
It also should be noted that it's actually cheaper to keep US Military Forces in Europe than it would to bring them back to the US and furthermore having US Bases in Europe has given the US leverage and indeed influence over Europe and beyond.
The US has never been a keen supporter of Europeans developing their own pacts or becoming too strong in terms of global affairs and influence, whilst being in NATO allows the US to draw on ready made allies just as the did in Afghanistan when Europe committed significant manpower and resources, costing tens of billions of pounds and also costing nearly one thousand lives.
If anything the US gets a good deal out of NATO, and will no doubt get an even better deal in future as European countries once again increase their defence budgets to the 2% minimum and beyond, whilst increasing manpower levels and ordering more weapon systems including from US suppliers.
The 2% GDP NATO Agreement was also not an immediate ultimatum it was designed to be reached within the next decade, as in around 2024, as it takes time to build up forces and spending and requires planning.
In terms of NATO there are generally two types of people who don't like the organisation, the first are left wingers and liberals who see it as a warmongering organisation but don't understand the concept that in order to maintain peace you must prepare for war.
The second group are right wing isolationists in the US who seem to think that the US can just ignore the rest of the world and everything will just go away, which is what the US did at one time and which saw two world wars and numerous other conflicts occurr, as well as attacks on the US itself such as Pearl Harbour, it also should be noted that NATO has only once invoked Article 5 in its entire history and thatwas after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
In terms of NATO, I fully support the organisation and agree that the 2% GDP should be met by all NATO Nations however I do not agree with some ill informed Americans and suggest that they are careful in relation to what they wish for, as both NATO and indeed US Forces in the Far East serve American interests.
Is America Getting a Bargain With NATO? - The Atlantic
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