CAAB

By the News-Register

German leaders, so eager to be critical of what they see as the United States flexing its military muscle on the world stage, are having something of a change of heart. In effect, they want to have their cake and eat it, too.

U.S. officials were making the rounds of NATO allies this week, discussing the possibility that some American military bases in Europe should be closed or moved to other countries. Germany is one target of such planning.

About 80,000 of the 116,000 U.S. troops in Europe now are based in Germany. A big American military presence there was necessary for decades during the Cold War -but the time for such a massive presence appears to have passed.

Some U.S. bases in Germany may be closed, their troops shifted to other countries in Europe or made available for missions elsewhere. That has German leaders nervous because of the enormous impact the bases have on their country's economy.

Given German leaders' recent refusal to cooperate with the United States in Iraq, the decision to close some bases ought to be an easy one. If they're not needed to support U.S. security - and some may be necessary for that reason - they should be closed. None should be retained simply to help the German economy.