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Germany Reaps Benefit From American Unilateralism
EFLNewsday via Worldwire BERLIN -- Germany will reduce its military by more than 10 percent by 2010 as part of a streamlining and modernization effort announced Thursday. The military is in the midst of a long-term overhaul aimed at cutting spending and switching focus from the Cold War task of fending off attack from the Soviet Union to new duties that include international peacekeeping. Germany has 10,000 troops deployed abroad, including peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans to patrolling shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa as part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism. The United States has long pressed Germany and other European countries to increase defense spending, even before the Sept. 11 attacks. But Chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs government is contending with near-zero growth and a budget deficit for a second straight year. Guess they are laughing at us. Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=19397 |