About. Damn. Time!

This should have been done about two years ago, at the latest.

The United States reportedly plans to pull 70,000 troops from Europe and Asia in the largest restructuring of its global military presence since World War II.

Two-thirds of the reductions will be made in Europe, most of them military personnel stationed in Germany who will be sent back to U.S. bases, the Financial Times reported Saturday.

The only reason we had that many troops in Germany was to counter the Soviet threat. That threat died in the early 90's. Ergo, the reason to keep troops in Europe was gone. But as usual, politics kept them there, which may or may not have been a bad thing. I know that a lot of troops enjoyed being stationed in Germany, some met their wives there, some extended tours of duty there. But it was high time we pulled most of our forces out of there. All we really need is a skeleton crew on important bases, just to keep them operational and ready to recieve troops should the need arise. We do NOT need two divisions stationed there.

And just to make this clear - part of my relief over this is a bit more vengeful in nature. We've been funding European defense for too long, it's time they either walked on their own or fell flat on their faces. Part of the money being spent is going to fund an anti-American administration in Germany, and seeing Schroder get blamed for the loss of US dollars would make me smile. It's well past time that Europe realised they cannot treat the USA like their own private piggybanks.

Bring troops home, saving money, and backhanding an anti-American asshole? That's a trifecta.