GERMANY PERSPECTIVE

Berlin uses the verb "drängt"—to press, to push—rather than "entlässt" (to dismiss). The nuance is revealing: Germany presents George as pushed toward the exit, not fired like a office employee. A distinction reflecting German military culture where a chief of staff is not dismissed by a civilian as a common employee. For Berlin, which just voted its largest military budget since reunification, the Pentagon looks less and less like a reliable ally.