Defense changes: U.S. reassures Europe

The U.S. military has maintained a presence in Europe for many years: soon it plans to withdraw as many as 7,000 troops from the Continent.

Budget cuts in Washington and a shift of military personnel to Asia contribute to the decision to move two combat brigades from Europe.

Both the U.S. defense secretary and secretary of state attended a security conference in Munich last weekend to explain the change and reassure Europe that the United States was not deserting its NATO allies.

“Europe remains America’s partner of first resort,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke of Europe as the “security partner of choice for military operations and diplomacy around the world.”

He explained that Washington would prepare a brigade based in the United States for rapid response to Europe when needed. In addition, American troops will travel to Europe for more joint military exercises, the secretary said.

Currently, there are 80,000 U.S. military personnel at 28 military bases in Europe, the New York Times reported. As Mr. Panetta said, “our military footprint in Europe will remain larger than in any other region of the world.”

For decades during the Cold War, America maintained a large troop presence in Europe to counterbalance the Soviet Union. In recent years, many forces based in Europe have been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Secretary Clinton spoke of how Europe and America work together on a range of diplomatic and military missions, citing Afghanistan, Libya and Iran.

The Europeans did not seem too troubled by the change, according to the New York Times. Said one French official: “If some American troops leave Europe, it won’t create any political problem between us. We don’t need a massive presence of American troops.”

Both secretaries made an important point to the Europeans: they need to beef up their military capabilities and repair their economies to ensure that NATO will remain strong.