Mayor Peter Lang of Baumholder, Germany, is obviously schooled in the delicate art of political spin (“Army assures Baumholder GIs will remain,” article, Feb. 2, Mideast and Europe editions). He said something to the effect that the people of Baumholder want Americans to stay more than just for financial reasons but because of the friendships built over the years. Really?

Come on, people aren’t stupid. Soldiers come and go every three years or so. I’m sure most have no contact with the town of Baumholder after they leave. It’s all about the money. If it’s not about money, why doesn’t the German government stop charging the U.S. military extortion-like rent and utilities?

I guess what rubs me the wrong way is the way the town of Baumholder seems to be trying to guilt the Army into staying with stories of how if the Americans leave they would perish from the Earth. I’ve been in Germany for 25 years and seen hundreds of other places such as Garlstadt, Hanau, Osterholz and Frankfurt close up shop and you know what? Life goes on.

The bottom line is Europe needs to come to grips that the U.S. military is not operating under the endless supply of money like the good old days. We all have to be honest and say what no one wants to really hear. Is there really any reason that Americans need to be in Europe? I mean the Soviet Union is gone, I don’t think any Iraqis are going to storm downtown Kaiserslautern, Berlin or Munich anytime soon.

America is financially hemorrhaging, there are powerful politicians who want all American forces brought back to the States. Will that happen? Probably not, but we are $15 trillion in debt, so I am all for closing anyplace that doesn’t absolutely need American forces.

There are German landlords who have gotten rich off the U.S. servicemembers in Germany, renting out houses at crazy prices so Americans have paid them off threefold. So, to the good people of Baumholder or any other community facing closure, you will get no sympathy from me or millions of unemployed Americans who have lost homes, jobs and watched our country go into the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Close Baumholder.

Stephen Malone

Kaiserslautern, Germany

It’s not all about the doctor

In her Feb. 2 column “Report card prescription has side effects,” Dr. Katherine Schlaerth uses one sentence to say transparency is a good thing and uses the rest of her diatribe to bemoan the idea of patients getting to report on the good and bad of a professional.

She assumes that because the patients in her previous practice had the means to practice a healthier lifestyle and were healthier as a result, they must have liked her. She then assumes that because the patients in her current practice are poor and uneducated, this will automatically translate into remarks reflecting poorly on her. Nowhere does she indicate she even knows what her patients think about her, assuming instead that because they “don’t bother to seek care until they are very ill,” they must not like her. The good doctor could use a huge dose of “get over yourself.”

Despite asserting, “The patient is not a passive entity in the equation,” Dr. Schlaerth makes it clear she’s completely out of touch with what patients care about most, second only to medical attention itself: the doctor’s regard and respect for (and understanding of) the patient as a human being. Instead of seeing the impoverished person’s decision to delay medical care as a financial decision, Dr. is instead taking it personally and then wrongly interpreting the person’s lack of action as a negative statement on her profession.

Seriously, Dr. Schlaerth, before you take on another patient, try putting your ego on a diet so there’s space for both of you in the exam room.

Diana Hartman

Böblingen, Germany