In a clear sign of whose interests he favors, we noted recently that Russia's man in Washington and beneficiary of their political attack Donald "Tovarich" Trump is planning to withdraw a significant number of troops from Germany. The move fits a pattern of his: to undermine the NATO alliance, which he erroneously views as a protection racket, probably from his own experience as a corrupt New York real estate con man. The move also pleases his patrons in Moscow, with whom he's almost certainly struck personal financial or business deals that he needs Putin to protect. He speaks with Putin regularly to get guidance on conducting U.S. foreign policy so it won't interfere with Russia's goals.
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and his Senate counterpart Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have introduced a bill to prevent Trump from executing his plan to withdraw those troops from Germany. Sen. Menendez posted a statement regarding the bill on Twitter:
The current U.S. troop presence in Germany is in the U.S. national security interest. Full stop. Just introduced legislation with @RepEliotEngel to prohibit funding for Trump’s reckless troop withdrawal.— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) June 18, 2020
MORE: https://t.co/pfK1x825UH
Needless to say, Moscow wasn't happy with the idea that their deal with Trump was being threatened:
We urge the #US lawmakers to exercise restraint in their emotions and assessments. We need to maintain a civilized dialogue. @Russia does not attack anyone and has no such intentions. Stop intimidating American🇺🇸 and European citizens with horror stories about "Russian threat". https://t.co/rn1YNJhbVa pic.twitter.com/Wm1APnSxOu— Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) June 19, 2020
"Russia does not attack anyone..." has to be one of the biggest howlers of all time. The very reason they're under sanctions and have been kicked from the G-8 is because they attacked others, namely Ukraine. Their irregular forces occupy the eastern part of Ukraine, known as the Donbass.
This isn't high on the radar of political Washington, but it's still important for the House and Senate to block another Trump gift to the Kremlin.
