An American general warns about the partial withdrawal of US troops from Romania and recalls a statement made by Trump a few hours later: “It involves something much more dangerous”
Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, former commander of US forces in Europe, argues in an article published in The Bulwark that the withdrawal of US military forces from Europe is not just a simple return to the situation before the Russian-Ukrainian war, but represents the abandonment of an older NATO strategy of deterrence, which will create confusion among US allies and embolden its enemies.
In his opinion, Hertling says “the Trump administration has made two major national security announcements that, taken together, capture some of its incoherence.”
He then recalls the decision regarding the withdrawal of some troops from Romania “from bases where NATO's south-eastern flank is anchored and which project stability in the Black Sea region”.
“As Pentagon officials have said, America must 'refocus on the defense of the country' and 'prepare for a future confrontation with China,'” the former commander of US forces in Europe.
Then he talks about a statement from the US president that came “just a few hours”: “The president mused on social media that he might have to send forces to Nigeria 'to protect Christians' from persecution.”
“As dizzying and shocking as these statements are individually, together they imply something far more dangerous: a fragmented national security decision-making process that lurches from one impulse to the next, unmoored by strategy, alliances or reality. You don't strengthen national territory by withdrawing from the front lines in Europe. You don't deter China by announcing military intervention in Africa on religious grounds. And you certainly don't you project global leadership through whiplash that replaces planning,” writes Mark Hertling.
He says that “the withdrawal from Romania is not just a simple geographical adjustment”, but “overturns an arc that has been built for years”.
“A success story is undone”
“It was part of the development of what became Joint Task Force – East, a rotating presence at the bases at Câmpia Turzii and Mihail Kogălniceanu – bases that were deliberately designated for this purpose and rebuilt to meet the requirements of the presence of a contingent intended to strengthen the US and NATO posture along the eastern flank in Europe. These actions were part of the transformation of the US forces between 2004 and 2011, the bases being intended to complement the forces permanently stationed in Germany and Italy with a rotational capacity in Romania”, continues the retired lieutenant general.
The withdrawal of a combat brigade from Romania is sending the wrong message to Putin, writes the Wall Street Journal
Hertling recalls that some voices in the administration have suggested that the announcement of the withdrawal of forces from Romania is only a return to the US posture in Europe at the level before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
He says this claim is misleading.
“Those forces were never 'permanently stationed;' neutral, but dismantles one of the success stories of allied deterrence just when its value has been proven,” says Hertling.
He says that “while the Trump administration undermines American credibility in Europe, it is toying with the idea of a new military adventure in West Africa.”
“The president's apparently off-the-cuff suggestion to send troops to Nigeria 'to protect Christians' may sound good to a domestic evangelical audience, but to anyone who has studied, worked or spent time in the region, it is strategically flawed and operationally dysfunctional,” wrote Gen. Mark Hertling.
Drifting, the most dangerous way
Hertling claims that the reality in the African country is much more complex than the American administration seems to understand, and the intervention in Nigeria, otherwise a pro-American country, risks creating hostility among the population, without solving the problem for which it intervened militarily.
“A foreign policy that withdraws from Romania while threatening to send troops to Nigeria is not a grand strategy; it is a meandering on the world stage. It weakens NATO, creates confusion among allies on other continents, emboldens adversaries, and trivializes both diplomats and the military. The United States remains an indispensable nation, but this requires discipline and coordinated power.
This is not disciplined strategy or military force, it is drift. And drift, when it comes to matters of war or peace, is the most dangerous path of all,” concluded Mark Hertling.
Plan to block the withdrawal of American troops from Romania and other countries on the eastern flank, the Ukrainian press writes
Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling was the commander of the 1st Armored Division stationed in Germany and commanded the Multinational Division North during the insurgency in Iraq from 2007-2009. In 2011-2012, he was the head of US troops stationed in Europe.
