US to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany in move that will cost billions and take years

I've said it before and will say it again - you guys revote Trump in - build the wall around ALL of your country and leave the rest of the world alone - we dont need bases all over Europe - definatly don't need your foods and the mockery you call music and entertainment - meh, you can keep that too. A wall isnt enough - build a giant dome, self sufficient and live happy lives fighting each other than fighting other countries

 

The Soviets? Let's see now, if Rip Van Winkle slept 20 years, that means you beat him by 10 years. The USSR was gone, kaput in 1990. Not that it died though, it just moved here. If you don't believe me, then check into the globalist leaders and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and the other anarchists.

As for the Baltics, well of course they are under threat. That's what happens when you steal other people's lands and then misuse the inhabitants. Not very smart!

 

According to Sahra Wagenknecht of the German leftist party, 20,000 American troops will remain in Germany and they should all leave, and take their nuclear weapons with them. She's right, if one looks at it from a German point of view.

 

Wrong, Turkey spends more. But it's not because of Nato, but because it wants to take over Libya, Syria, Greece, Cyprus, etc. Greece also spends more, but not because of Nato, but because it wants to defend itself from Turkey.

As for Trumps battle with Germany? Well he's just carrying out his business practices of beating down others before they become too powerful - that is with the exception of the Anglosphere. Well we have to have some friends.

 

Yes - for the first time in history you can no longer attack your neighbor when your economy goes south - if your neighbor has nukes.

The geopolitical Chessboard has changed - Military being no longer the strongest piece - Economic is now the Queen.

Yes - Military still has some sway - Just not as much as the Queen. The problem from the perspective of Historical cycles in History - is that as technology spreads - the cost of projecting power increases - to the point where the ROI becomes negative.

Take the Brits with the gatling gun - one gunship they could take over an entire African Nation - fighting back with sticks and stones - Technological innovation leads to military superiority and economic Hegemony. Return on Investment is highly positive in the initial stages of empire.

Over time however, as technology spreads - that African Nation gets the gun - now one ship will not do - you need to send an entire Armada -and you will take heavy casualties - and this is expensive. The cost of projecting power has increased.

I am paraphrasing the classic book - "Blood in the Streets" 1987 - which compares various cycles in History.

We are at the "Negative Return on Investment" phase of the cycle - and one is a fool to think the rest of the world does not recognize this -and also realize that Economy is now the strongest piece - thus they are diverting capital that direction - rather than to a pointless conventional build-up.

Exactly - to throw some numbers into the mix. In 2000 - "Total Military Spending" - all in the VA - Military Related spending - Homeland Security - Intelligence - was roughly 300 Billion. After 8 years of Bush the total exceeded 900 Billion - and topped 1 Trillion under Obama.

Had we maintained 2000 spend levels - increasing with inflation - we could have diverted 500 Billion/yr x 16 years = 8 Trillion dollars - to infrastructure, technology , ramping up our economy to compete in the 3rd millennium.

Instead we did what ? - purposeless regime change wars - or at least not for the purposes sold to the Public through the State Sponsored Propaganda Apparatus. "Assad was a Bad Guy" .. So what - Which ME leader isn't ?

Ocean Pollution is the #1 enviro issue - #2 Industrialization / 3) Population growth - #4 CO2

And obviously these are interconnected. Currently - Pipelines/ domestic energy production are the most enviro friendly option - strange as it may seem.

Population growth and Industrialization are huge issues (as pointed out in Michael Moore's latest flick - much to the chagrin of Blue)

Take some person eating a bowl of rice a day - and turn them into a "first world citizen" - the consumption goes from 1 to 36 - and all the byproducts of that consumption that go with it - energy usage - pollution and so on.

Calling a spade a spade here - Russia - is far more similar to western Culture and political ideals than China - Most of the ME - Most of Africa - and a bunch of other places. Russiagate is mostly Propaganda - need an enemy to keep the cash flowing into the Military Industrial Complex.

The world has changed - We are no longer the only game in town - there are many competing over scarce resources and an economic edge.

We need strong partners in our economic efforts - taking a "go it alone" strategy is a huge blunder in this geopolitical chessgame - and this one in particular is on Trump. Bad moves he has been making - which are are resulting in our "SOLE" reserve currency status being revoked much quicker than it could have been.

 

I corrected my statement in a later post to "no significant others" Turkey being the most significant of the bunch.

 

the US pumps so much money in to the German economy, the first thing to go will be that so called terrific "free" healthcare. It will be hilarious.

 

People who post articles to avoid stating positions are a waste of time. If you can't articulate your position, but instead need to post random links when there is nothing factual involved, then you are basically...trolling.

 

Excellent post, well done!

 

Where does M.A.D. figure into the future? It has kept nuclear powers from waging war with one another. No one wins given mutual destruction like we have never seen.

I think its a game changer . And so your future concerns may not need what you suggest is essential. Think about it.

 

Well he did wait until after the 2012 election. You may be right.

 

"It was widely assumed that Robert Mueller’s investigation would uncover what, if anything, lay at the bottom of the bizarre and sometimes creepy level of deference Donald Trump extends to Russia.

But Mueller never uncovered the full extent of Trump’s financial ties to Moscow. “Neither Mueller nor the Southern District prosecutors sought out Trump’s financial records or obtained his tax returns,” Jeffrey Toobin reports. The mystery of Trump’s solicitousness to Putin remains unresolved. And he continues to give reasons for suspicion.

Again, none of this proves Trump has some kind of corrupt ongoing relationship with Putin. But the notion that he has been cleared of any untoward ties, that Mueller proved that Trump’s stream of lies and obfuscation about his connections with Russia turned out not to hide anything, is simply not the case.

If Trump wanted to demonstrate his innocence, he would follow every previous president for the last 40 years and release his financial information. He might be innocent after all. But he has never acted like an innocent person would."

More at the link.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/trump-putin-germany-bases-bounties-russia-mueller.html

 

A majority of Germans disagree.

Do Germans want to develop or acquire nukes of their own to act as a deterrent? Doesn't seem so.

 

Why would the Germans feel they need a deterrent towards Russia? They're not on Russian lands, and therefore can't be misusing any Russian population that would be on that land. So why would Russia want to attack them?

Quite the opposite since Kaliningrad is in Russian hands. Germany would certainly wants the city back - as would the Baltic nations. In that case, Russia would be the one that's under threat, not Germany.

Besides Kaliningrad, Germany is not a competitor to Russia in natural resources the way the US is. Germany is the one that needs Russia's resources for their industries, so again it's Russia that would be under threat not Germany. The only thing Russia would want, is German money to buy those resources, and they certainly wouldn't be able to get that money if they attacked Germany and destroyed its industries - so what you're saying makes no sense.

But then again if there was any logic to it, it wouldn't be called propaganda - but as Goebbels said, say something often enough and people will believe it.

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me thrice - I'm an idiot.

Hee, hee, hee!


​

 

Yes, but maybe these superpowers would still engage in conflicts with each other either directly or by proxy but without either side resorting to nukes because both sides know about M.A.D. and are not suicidal, but conventional warfare might still do a lot of damage. I mean, M.A.D. has been around since the 50's-60's and we've seen a number of proxy wars, already, without anybody using nukes.

 

Delete

 

No need to speculate about Trump's ties to foreign interests - No need to track down Russian Operatives - because these foreign interests are not Russian - and nor are these interests some big secret -

Just follow the money

 

You mean like money laundering Russian money??

GMAFB...

 

.
That reminded me of that big bank laundering drug cartel money during Obama's admin. Holder said to jail these criminals would hurt economies so he just fined them. No usual prison sentence! Too big to jail.

Trump should have no problem.

 

Laundering Russian money is not what is being referred to in my post - Quite the opposite - you must have gotten something reversed.

I was referring to Foreign interests dat Trump done dirty deals with - "Other Than" Putinsky.

Putinsky is a pip-squeek compared to some of the other clans who done dirty with Carrot Top.

 

And the right would be saying that the Dems were planning to have Russian troops marching through DC in a week, even though NATO has had no real purpose since that Nuclear Armed Strategic Air Command was established in 1946

Oh, wait, they're doing that now and they have much less reason

But your point is well taken.

 

Ahh, my understanding is he did a lot of money laundering, going back to his dealings with drug cartels. What other sorts of criminal activity are you aware of?

 

To me this is nothing more than a publicity stunt before the election.
There is a 50/50 chance that Bunker Boy will loose the election. If that happens, none of the troops will leave

 

Which money ?

Free healthcare, on which planet do you live ?

 

How about we bring them back to protect our citizens in democrat controlled cities that have let lawlessness run wild?