America’s most senior general in Europe warns Donald Trump that Russia could attack if he pulls out US troops
Lt Gen Ben Hodges said President Putin is ready to “exploit” any “weakness” that the Washington shows on the continent’s Eastern border
AMERICA’S most senior general in Europe has warned Donald Trump that Russia could attack if he pulls out US troops.
Lt Gen Ben Hodges said President Putin is ready to “exploit” any “weakness” that the Washington shows on the continent’s Eastern border.
And in a direct contradiction of the new president’s assault on NATO, the 58-year-old US Army officer instead branded it “the most successful alliance in the history of the world”.
The remarks - at an event in London on Monday – are the most candid criticism yet of Trump’s military thinking by a serving officer since he took office on Friday, and may mark the start of a generals’ revolt against their new commander in chief.
A senior British military figure also told The Sun that Trump’s new defence secretary - former US Marine Corps General James Mattis - would resign rather than see the US walk away from NATO.
President Trump sparked alarm across Europe by branding the 68-year-old alliance “obsolete”.
And during his controversial inauguration address, he also opened the door to US troop withdrawals from Europe, saying: “For many decades, we’ve subsidised the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; we’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own”.
Quizzed on the withdrawal threat by The Sun, Commander of US Army Europe General Hodges told an event held by the Policy Exchange think tank: “The Russians only respect strength.
“If there’s vulnerability, if there’s weakness, if there’s an opening, they will exploit that.
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“They have always believed they are entitled to a sphere, and if people in Poland, Ukraine or Lithuania didn’t want to be part of that sphere, that was not their choice.
“The United States has been here to help be a part of the most successful alliance in the history of the world to ensure those nations that wanted to be free, could do that.
“If the United States was not there participating, and contributing to the stability and security of Europe, then the threat would be more significant.”
While insisting he was just “a pretty simple infantry soldier, way down in the chain”, General Hodges also dismissed Trump’s suggestion that the US could walk away from NATO.
America’s own “stability and security is tied to the stability and security in Europe”, he insisted instead.
Asked whether he agreed with Trump over NATO being obsolete, the general added: “I’ll say that the United States has been a loyal, active leader and member of the most successful alliance in the world since the very beginning, and I think we will always be there.
“But for sure, we have got to work hard to be relevant to the threats that surround us. Have we kept up? I think those are fair questions.”
Decorated General Hodges, who was wounded in Iraq, also heaped praise on Germany’s increase in military spending – again cutting across President’s attack on Germany.
Saying he was “satisfied with the direction of travel” after Berlin’s recent defence cash uplift, the general added: “I’m very happy with what I see of the German Army”.
In what would be a major embarrassment to President Trump, senior British military sources last night said his own defence secretary would refuse to implement anything that damaged NATO.
The source – who knows General Mattis well – said: “If it gets to the stage that Mattis feels his credibility is being compromised, he will walk.
“As his confirmation hearing proved, he doesn’t believe any of Trump’s rhetoric about NATO, and he’s too long in the tooth to put up with it.”
The PM has pledged to stress the “importance of NATO as the bulwark of our defence” when they meet in the White House.
Despite his explosive public comments, Downing Street said yesterday that the new president has signalled his commitment to the alliance in his two phone conversations with Mrs May so far.