Political Quotes

“I have been working for some time to wrestle with this question of the right number of military forces we need in Europe. It is an issue that has given me some pause. I thought we had an agreement several years ago to make some noticeable changes in that force structure. Some changes have indeed been made and others were in the works and they apparently have been put on hold and altered. So I just wished to share some thoughts about it. I thank Senator Levin and Senator McCain for working with me to develop an amendment to this bill that helps call attention to this problem with the Department of Defense. We have had a long and historic relationship with Europe and our European allies. They remain the best allies we have in the world. We have large numbers of troops still in Europe. But there are not nearly as many as there have been in the past. But the numbers are still extraordinary. We have, at this time, 80,000 U.S. troops in Europe, and I do not believe military threats justify that large a troop presence. Our historic even larger number was based on the Soviet threat, the Fulda Gap, the weakness of our European allies after World War II and their lack of strength and the bond that NATO meant. We stuck together and transformed the entire North Atlantic region in a positive way. A book called ``Paradise and Power'' has been written about where we are today. It is a pretty significant book, frankly.…”