Drop in bucket troop withdrawal deserves support

Military obsessed Republicans are apoplectic President Trump ordered a 9,500 troop reduction in Germany. It would drop current troop strength there from 34,500 to 25,000. Twenty-two hardliners sent a letter critical of the reduction to Trump that recalls Cold War hysteria from the 1950’s. “In Europe, the threats posed by Russia have not lessened, and we believe that signs of a weakened U.S. commitment to NATO will encourage further Russian aggression and opportunism" was one of several scare tactics used by the pro troop caucus, led by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX). Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has become a second-tier power with a GDP lagging behind France, UK, Spain; even struggling Italy, not to mention gargantuan power Germany where those 34,500 soldiers prepare for a fantasy Russian invasion. It’s the US, not Russia, that sows fear and loathing in Russia’s neighborhood with endless NATO mission creep right up to Russia’s borders.

Squandering our treasure supporting over 200,000 military personnel spread around 150 nations, it’s no wonder the US is unable to commit economic resources to American infrastructure, American health, confronting climate change, reducing outrageous income inequality, dismantling structural racism.

A drop in a bucket troop withdrawal is a start. We need to turn it into a flood.