The United States (US) has decided to withdraw at least 5,000 troops from Germany, the Pentagon said on Friday, as President Donald Trump continues to criticise the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over its stance against America's conflict against Iran in the Middle East.
The withdrawal is likely to take place in the next six to 12 months, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, adding that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”
Germany has several military facilities of the US, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl. According to a report by The Associated Press (AP), the number of troops leaving Germany would be 14 per cent of the 36,000 American service members stationed there.
The widening US-NATO rift over Iran war
The US decision to withdraw the troops come after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised Washington's conflict against Tehran and said America was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership. "An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible," he said during an in Marsberg, Merz earlier this week.
But Merz's remarks did not go well with Trump, who on Saturday hit out at his critics over the war and described claims that the US is not winning as "treasonous". Speaking at The Villages in Florida, the Republican leader also slammed the NATO and labelled it as a "paper tiger" again.
"This should have been done by other presidents long before and should have been done by other countries too... And we got no help from NATO. We got no help, zero help from NATO. We spend trillions of dollars on NATO and we got no help. We didn't need it but we got none. It is a paper tiger," the American president.
