The reaction of the German press on Wednesday to President Bush’s announcment concerning the drastic reduction of US military presence in Germany was rather muted, except for noting the handwringing of Defense Minister Peter Struck. Still, the harsh critism of the move by John Kerry and his political allies did not go entirely unnoticed.
Commentators in the US, however, are beginning to express concern about the long term implications of the restructuring. Ron Asmus, of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, has an op/ed piece in this morning’s Washington Post (registration required) with the title “Bush’s Withdrawal From the World” in which he accuses the President of turning away from NATO:
“Whether this is good or bad politics remains to be seen. But there is little doubt that it is bad strategy and bad diplomacy, for which the United States is likely to pay a heavy price. The reasons are fairly simple. In Europe after the Cold War, the United States decided to significantly reduce its former troop levels but to leave sufficient military forces on the ground to accomplish three objectives: help ensure that peace and stability on the continent would endure; have the capacity to support NATO and European Union expansion and project the communities of democracies eastward; and provide the political and military glue to enable our allies to reorient themselves militarily and prepare, together with the United States, to address new conflicts beyond the continent’s borders.”
This could become a major campaign topic. It will be interesting to see if it comes up in the presidential debates next month.
