German Defense Minister Peter Struck said Germany will stop protecting U.S. military bases in the country at the end of 2004 and would not send troops to help a NATO force police Iraq, a newspaper reported Sunday."We want to put an end to the German army's protection of American installations by the end of the year," said Struck in an interview with Welt am Sonntag. "We're now negotiating an end to the guarding process."
A Defense Ministry spokesman said discussions about ending the German army's policing of U.S. bases had been going on since the start of the year.
"The United States is gearing itself up for this accordingly," the spokesman said.
Some 2,500 German soldiers have protected U.S. barracks and other installations from attack since the start of 2003 because many U.S. troops stationed in Germany -- who would normally have performed the task themselves -- are now in Iraq.
I can't help but think that if Bush had been nicer to our allies, they wouldn't be abandoning us at the rate they are.
