@Ozone27:
As a matter of fact I have been to Germany, twice. The consensus of the people I spoke to around the Hamburg area (including my close friends) was that they don’t want the US bases closed because they mean a great deal of money & jobs to German people & contractors. I’m not talking about nickel-and-dime stuff like souvenirs the individual soldiers buy etc, we’re talking building contracts, civilian labor & experts & so on. Maybe “mega-$$$” is a subjective term, but in any case if these US bases go, a lot of Germans will lose their jobs.
Ok, I am sure that the people in the Hamburg area do not know that much about american soldiers. Hamburg was UK occupied territory, plus the closest Uk base is in Lower Saxony. For the “nickel and dime” stuff: Usually, the US bases are more in the countryside, so for those living there, the bases are important: As well with the “every day retail” of, say clothes or whatever, as with the building contracts and civilian labor. Experts? What kind of experts? I don’t think that you talk about any high tech equipment …. what would you need these experts for, especially people who do not have an US passport?
So, yes: mega-$$$ is subjective, as is “a lot of Germans” losing their jobs. How many would that be? 50,000? 100,000? more or less? I would think it is more towards the 50,000s
As far as kids throwing rocks off overpasses–that’s pretty annoying, but kids get into trouble like that everywhere & the world goes on. I’m sure plenty of Germans would like the US troop presence curtailed or even eliminated, but certainly not over silly stuff like that…
ANNOYING? It is dangerous! Remember, there are cars going 130 km/h down there, and suddenly something crashes through the windscreen…. Had they been grown ups, that would have been an attempted murder!
Sure, it happens “everywhere”, but the only other doing this stuff in Germany have been mentally disturbed people, or radical anti-democrats…
I think the US troops are still welcome (as they bring money in), but: it would be nice if the US (administration mainly) would treat us with respect and not as if you would still be occupying us.