According to the agency, several weeks after the suspension of troop rotations to Poland and President Donald Trump’s subsequent declaration that he would send ‘5,000 additional troops’ to the country, the U.S. military still lacks clarity on what the move will mean in practical terms.
The working assumption is that the US soldiers will come from units already in Europe, rather than an additional deployment from the U.S., the AP said, citing two unnamed U.S. Defense Department officials.
The agency notes that the abrupt changes are forcing the military to “retroactively engineer” a policy in line with the president’s latest pronouncement.
If the Pentagon were to withdraw troops from Germany, the operation could cost several billion dollars.
A key challenge would also be the lack of sufficient infrastructure in the United States to accommodate the troops and their families should they return home.
Relocating military units from Germany to Poland could prove similarly expensive and might take several years to complete.
According the AP, NATO allies were astonished at Trump’s declaration in May that he would send 5,000 troops to Poland just weeks after he announced the same number to be withdrawn from Europe, after tensions with Germany over the Iran war.
However, the Trump administration says troop reductions in Europe have long been planned and coordinated with allies, the AP wrote.
(mo)
Source: AP