[Paul Ross]

The Cold War is over.

Tell that to North Korea...or Bejing for that matter.

The troops in Japan are strategically positioned so as to timely reinforce likely 'hot-spots' such as South Korea or Taiwan.

[WOSG]

I did not suggest reducing our commitment on the Korean peninsula. But 100,000 troops in Europe is a waste of our money and serves no purpose against North Korea nor China nor Cuba, the three remaining communist nations worth freting over.

As for Japan, reinforcement can happen to 'hot-spots' from US bases almost as quickly.

People complain about an Iraq war that likely cost $200 billion. Well our DoD costs are now $400 billion a year, war or peace; that's huge. As fiscal conservatives it is our duty to make sure we conserve every penny. IMHO we can do more with less in every Govt dept, DoD included.