It's no secret that France and Germany have been the source of a lot of anti-American sentiment as of late. As far back as 2002, support for U.S. efforts in the war on terrorism has been waning. But now that we've decided to pull tens of thousands of troops out of Germany, the Germans want to know what gives.

"Base closures would hit us very hard," fretted Ole Kruse, spokesman for the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg, home of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division.

Baumholder, a town in rural western Germany, will lose $150 million a year if the U.S. military training area leaves, Mayor Volkmar Pees complained today to the Associated Press.

"We view this with great concern," Bamberg spokesman Steffen Schuetzewohl chimed in.

To put that number in perspective:

The district of Birkenfeld is one such area that could be hit hard. Up to 20 percent of GDP is dependent on the Baumholder military base in the region where parts of the 1st Infantry Division are now stationed.

Apparently the German moral convictions only go so far:

Despite substantial anger among the German populace at US actions in Iraq, and protests at some bases, many Germans see the economic considerations outweighing moral ones when it comes to a continuing presence of American troops in the neighborhood. Officials have begun doing what they can to convince the Americans to stay.

"We're now in negotiations with the Americans, trying to make it appealing for them to stay at their current sites," said Eric Schaefer, press spokesman for the Interior Ministry of Rhineland-Palatinate, where several bases including Baumholder are located. "We're talking to the US about not just closing the base, but using it differently, perhaps as a training ground."

But keep in mind that these base closures are not new ideas. Base closures have been happening for decades. Bush campaigned on the idea of scaling back foreign military bases, and Clinton used the savings from base closures to pay for military improvements and advancements in equipment.