Bring the Troops Home!

From this John Podhoretz column we learn that the Democrats are against any redeployment of our European forces:

Surrogates and spokesmen for the Kerry campaign went ballistic. "Alarming," declared Richard Holbrooke, the foreign-policy guru who will almost certainly be Secretary of State if Kerry is elected. Wesley Clark, who was supreme commander of NATO before his disastrous run for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year, thundered that the plan would "significantly undermine U.S. national security."

Naturally (and transparently), this is simply being contrary for its own sake. Curiously, Holbrooke ads this:

"I know that the Germans are very unhappy about these withdrawals," said the former ambassador to Germany.

It seems in the mind of prominent Democrats, we need Germany's permission before sending troops overseas and before bringing them home. Perhaps that is the Democrat strategy for balancing the budget: lower defense expenditures by turning command and control functions over to the French and Germans!