Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: German urges big U.S. presence Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:23:58 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \SS (WS) \HD German urges big U.S. presence \BY Rolf Soderlind \CR REUTERS NEWS AGENCY \DT GRAFENWOEHR, Germany GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - Defense Minister Volker Ruehe said yesterday the United States should keep a troop presence in Europe that is more than just symbolic. He said he expected the United States to pull back even more troops from Europe now that Bill Clinton had been elected president. Mr. Clinton has said the number of U.S. troops in Europe, which was more than 300,000 before the first cuts began with the end of the Cold War three years ago, should be reduced to 100,000 or less. "The Americans have to sort that out, but from our point of view it will be important not just to have a symbolic presence but a presence that makes sense militarily," Mr. Ruehe said at a news conference after visiting a U.S. Army shooting range at Grafenwoehr. "Europe would be a very insecure place without the Americans being here," he said. "They have become part of the security culture - even more, the political culture in Europe." There are now some 200,000 U.S. troops in Europe, including some 135,000 in Germany, which was in the front line bordering communist Eastern Europe during four decades of Cold War. President Bush wanted to keep 150,000 troops in Europe after 1995, including 120,000 in Germany. Mr. Ruehe said that a militarily significant troop presence "would be the size of a corps and two divisions, but that the structure would be up to the U.S. Congress to decide." A North Atlantic Treaty Organization corps is normally between 70,000 and 100,000 troops. But Lt. Gen. Daniel Schroeder, deputy commander in chief of the U.S. Army in Europe, said: "The numbers are a red herring. Don't get distracted by numbers. What counts is the capability of the corps, what it is supposed to be doing. And that's what is being analyzed now." Mr. Ruehe, who is paying his first visit to U.S. forces in Germany since becoming defense minister seven months ago, called on Gen. David Maddox, commander in chief of the U.S. Army in Europe, in Heidelberg before flying to Grafenwoehr. He chatted with American tank crews, jumping at each deafening salvo at the shooting range. "So how do you like it here in Grafenwoehr?" Mr. Ruehe asked Spec. Terrell Dickens, 20, of Wilson, N.C. "Grafen-what?" replied Spec. Dickens. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM