MtnBiker
Senior Member
Melissa Eddy, Associated Press
March 28, 2004 EUROBASES0328
WUERZBURG, GERMANY -- As host to 170,000 American soldiers and dependents, Germany has a lot to lose under Pentagon plans to shift forces out of western Europe, and officials in areas facing a pinch are lobbying heavily for them to stay.
Economic survival for their communities, more than security, is the concern for these supporters of a continued U.S. presence in their regions, where ties are deeply rooted despite Germans' current criticism of U.S. policy in Iraq.
Many of the communities depend on business and jobs generated by the bases, located mainly in economically weak regions of southern and western Germany.
"We realized that our installations are in grave danger," said Karl Peter Bruch, a state official in Rhineland-Palatinate who heads an effort to lobby U.S. officials. "And then came the question, what can we do to make us more attractive?"
The tactic has drawn mixed reviews from the Americans, who have 80,000 military personnel with 94,000 family members stationed in Germany.
The issue has nothing to do with Germany being unattractive, U.S. officials say. It's part of a global realignment to meet changing threats centered in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Full Story
A supposed ally that has been pushed away, but is fighting to keep our bases there, hmmmm.
March 28, 2004 EUROBASES0328
WUERZBURG, GERMANY -- As host to 170,000 American soldiers and dependents, Germany has a lot to lose under Pentagon plans to shift forces out of western Europe, and officials in areas facing a pinch are lobbying heavily for them to stay.
Economic survival for their communities, more than security, is the concern for these supporters of a continued U.S. presence in their regions, where ties are deeply rooted despite Germans' current criticism of U.S. policy in Iraq.
Many of the communities depend on business and jobs generated by the bases, located mainly in economically weak regions of southern and western Germany.
"We realized that our installations are in grave danger," said Karl Peter Bruch, a state official in Rhineland-Palatinate who heads an effort to lobby U.S. officials. "And then came the question, what can we do to make us more attractive?"
The tactic has drawn mixed reviews from the Americans, who have 80,000 military personnel with 94,000 family members stationed in Germany.
The issue has nothing to do with Germany being unattractive, U.S. officials say. It's part of a global realignment to meet changing threats centered in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Full Story
A supposed ally that has been pushed away, but is fighting to keep our bases there, hmmmm.
