I'm training here! I'm TRAINING!
NYT story on new plan by German defense minister to end draft and cut end strength (number of troops) by 90k (from 250k to 163,000) Currently, the Bundeswehr can project only about 7k troops abroad at any one time. The goal, long expressed, is to double that to 14,000, but that couldn't be achieved absent this restructuring, says the defense minister.
Driving dynamic is to cut 8B euro from the budget over 2011-2014 timeframe.
If we're realistic, we admit Europe is a minor military partner in the decades ahead, leaving us to court million-man armies in Asia (India, China--a goal that's worthy simply for making sure the two don't mix it up for real).
Everything else is peanuts.