As predicted earlier, President Bush has announced a 10-year plan for the redeployment of American military forces from Europe and Asia.
Germany is fretting over the economic impact, but both senators from Texas say it's a grand opportunity to station more troops in our state.
Germany watcher David Kaspar is very concerned:
But...but... this means job losses in the tens of thousands in Germany!! You can't do this! Germany is broke by all definitions and needs help, not another devastating blow to the job market! We're already struggling to sustain our 6-week-annual vacations and the 35-hour week, not to forget our generous welfare state - we simply can't afford even more job losses! We need US taxpayer dollars to keep our standard of socialism!Tip via Blogs of War
Mark Steyn says in The Telegraph that the presence of U.S. forces in Europe for so long has had unintended consequences anyway.
Like any other form of welfare, defence welfare is a hard habit to break and profoundly damaging to the recipient. The peculiarly obnoxious character of modern Europe is a logical consequence of Washington's willingness to absolve it of responsibility for its own security. Our Defence Editor, John Keegan, once wrote that "without armed forces a state does not exist".That's true in a certain sense. But, in another, for wealthy nations who've found a sugar daddy, it's marvellously liberating. You're able to preen and pose on the world stage secure in the knowledge that nobody expects you to do anything about it.
A wealthy continent liberated from the burdens of military expenditure is also liberated to a large degree from reality. Poor peoples have no choice but to live in the real world: if a drought wipes out their crops, they starve. Likewise, rich, powerful nations have traditionally required great vigilance to maintain their wealth and power.
But Europe increasingly resembles those insulated celebrities being shuttled around town from one humanitarian gala to another – like Barbra Streisand flying in by private jet to discuss excessive energy consumption with President Clinton. Just as elderly rockers and Hollywood divas are largely free from the tedious responsibilities of rich industrialists or supermarket magnates – payroll costs and plant upgrades – so the EU can flaunt its "concerns" about the world and leave the logistics to others.
Start bringing 'em on home, Mr. President.
Posted by Alan at August 17, 2004 05:59 AM