S. Korea: Rearrangement of U.S. Troops To Be Announced Next Month at the Earliest

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed on November 14 that the U.S. and allied forces are not considering early withdrawal of troops, despite new efforts by the U.S. to accelerate the return of sovereignty to Iraq.

“The decision to withdraw the troops has not been made yet,” he said, stressing that President Bush has clarified the U.S. intention to stay in Iraq as long as it needs.

Rumsfeld, who is currently making a tour of Asian countries, made the remarks to the local U.S. troops at his first stopover at the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam before his visit to Japan.

In regard to the rearrangement of U.S. troops, he said, “The U.S. has made a preliminary decision about rearranging the U.S. troops, and we are now at the stage of discussing it with allies and the congress,” adding that they might be able to formally announce the rearrangement scheme sometime next month.

In particular, he strongly suggested the possibility of a reduction and reorganization of U.S. troops in Korea by casting doubt on the idea that the 37,000 U.S. soldiers in Korea could not be committed to areas other than the Korean peninsula.

He also said, “U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer (who was summoned to Washington urgently) will return to Iraq and search for a way to accelerate the task of handing over sovereignty and public security responsibilities to Iraq,” and denied the possibility of early withdrawal of troops repeatedly by saying, “But it doesn’t mean that U.S. troops will leave Iraq earlier than was expected from the beginning.”

He said, “Allied forces will continue to stay in Iraq and bear the responsibility of contributing to the reconstruction of Iraq,” adding that “each country should make its own decision regarding the deployment of troops.”

With the number of U.S. soldiers killed or injured in Iraq increasing, the U.S. administration amended its original plan to hand over sovereign power to Iraq following the establishment of the constitution and holding a general election, provoking the assumption that they were preparing early withdrawal of troops.

Rumsfeld, who arrived in Japan via Guam on November 14, met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and allegedly asked him to deploy Japan’s self-defense forces as soon as possible.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other sources in the Japanese press, Rumsfeld allegedly explained the basic policy of the U.S. government concerning the reorganization of U.S. troops in Japan.

Backstabbing S. Korean president Roh Moo-hyun is making almost the same mistake Turkey made just before the War on Iraq. All he cares about is to shore up his leftwing base in a runup to the general parliamentary election in next April. At the least, he seems to make the opposition party force the Iraq deployment issue so that he may appear to reluctantly agrees to it. This way, the opposition takes the blame and he can get away. However, Rumsfeld may not be amused. He will use the hammer of troop redeployment again.

This loser, Roh, tries to be cute and play with a fire. He was burned once early this year. Now, with a new Iraq situation, he got bold and is trying his luck. He will get the same result. He does not have much leverage to begin with. He never learns.

I sure hope the US isn't using the idea of American withdrawal from Okinawa as a "threat" on Japan.

There is nothing Japanese conservatives would like more than a reduction in the level of American military presence in Japan. That's precisely why it's a mistake... but I understand that we have more bases around Tokyo than we do around Los Angeles.

It is a bit ridiculous to have such deployment when the threat is not in Tokyo, but in Baghdad.

It is a bit ridiculous to have such deployment when the threat is not in Tokyo, but in Baghdad.

The bases are designed to support us if we need to "argue" with N. Korea. The N. Korean Army is large and short-range missile attacks would severely damage operations currently stationed in the northern half of the southern peninsula. We need to have ready backups and established supply lines nearby "just in case."

Well said. Roh is a strange bird.
Every now and then you just have to shake your head vigorously and come back to common sense: ROK is saying the Iraq troop deployment is too dangerous, but our troops our sitting north of Seoul, defending the ROK's livelihood, within the conventional artillery range of a madman. There's no doubt in my mind that the Bush administration is very cognizant of this contradiction, whatever the dictates of diplomacy, protocol, and press conferences require.
I don't care much for Roh, either; but Roh didn't take power in a coup -- he was popularly elected. The problems in the ROK run a lot deeper.

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