urope Doesn't Need U.S. Protection, Most Germans Say

Newsweek via MSN ^ | 7/23/2018 | David Brennan

[granada]

In the wake of repeated attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump, Germans appear to be souring on the country’s relationship with America. The majority of Germans now believe Europe can defend itself without the help of the American military, a Forsa survey has found.

As reported by Reuters, only 37 percent of 1,004 Germans surveyed now think the continent needs help from the U.S. to defend its borders. There was little difference between the former eastern and western parts of the country, at 60 and 55 percent respectively. Western Germans have closer historical ties with Washington on account of the division of the country after World War II and during the Cold War.

During his visit to the NATO summit in Brussels earlier this month, Trump repeatedly attacked America’s allies for spending too little on the defense of Europe. The president reserved particular criticism for Germany, which he claimed is now “totally controlled by Russia.”

Trump was focused on the Nord Stream 2 project, an $11 billion expansion of the existing Nord Stream natural gas pipeline funded by the Kremlin-backed Gazprom company and five European nations. The president said this development was “inappropriate.”

“Ultimately, Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas,” he claimed, suggesting this would leave Germany “totally controlled by Russia.”

Around 84 percent of Germans asked about this exchange believed Trump’s stance was “completely absurd.” Ninety-two percent said they thought Trump’s motivation for the attack was most likely linked to his desire to sell more American natural gas to Europe. Two thirds remain in support of the project, which will double Russia’s capacity to deliver natural gas to Germany to almost 250 billion square feet per year. The extended pipeline is expected to become operational by the end of 2019.

[FLT-bird]

No! Not auf wiedersehen. The correct phrase would be “Schuss!”

Auf Wiedersehen means we would come back. We should leave with no intent to ever return.

[granada]

Even during the Bill Clinton era, the anti-America sentiment still kept growing in Germany until Clinton government signed the agreement for Kyoto protocol (climate change).

[JGPhila]

Recently, I read that Germany had four functioning fighter jets out of a total of 128. It had six submarines, none of which were ready for deployment. Some army units were using blackened sticks of wood instead of rifles for training. No doubt, this staggering arsenal will stop the Russians dead in their tracks. No reason for US troops to get in the way.

[jpsb]

There is no Germany military. They can even field one modern submarine. They have no army and barely have an air force.

Over the past several months, the entirety of Germany's submarine fleet has gone out of action , the Bundeswehr, its armed forces, has outsourced helicopter training to a private company because its own helicopters are in need of repair , and more than half of the Bundeswehr's Leopard 2 tanks, its most common model, were out of order, with just 95 of 244 in service.

[jpsb]

We also need to keep troops in Europe just in case the Germans get uppity again.