Posted on 06/01/2004 12:04:45 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
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Shock waves in Seoul as U.S. to shift 12,000 more troops to Iraq |
SEOUL – First the Pentagon told the ministry of national defense it plans to transfer a brigade of 3,600 troops from South Korea to Iraq this summer. Now, the Pentagon is telling South Korean officials it wants to scale back the number of U.S. troops in South Korea from 37,000 to 25,000.
The news took the government here by surprise. A Blue House official, talking anonymously to South Korean reporters, barely masked the government's concern: "The realignment should not undermine our national security."
In and out of the government, the realization has now dawned that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had been deadly serious when he spread the word during his visit here last November that the U.S. had a new concept of flexible defense.
Stability in the region is very important. The only other power that might be able to fill the void we would leave is Japan. If Japan is ready to take the protector role, perhaps they should do it. But, maybe it is still too soon.
In Iran all we have to do is support a popular uprising.
Syria will then 'see the light'.
Since the South Koreans have been whining about our presence and it's leader has been critical of our presence in their country.......let them eat cake!
FYI...FWIW.
So many people around the world seem to be so reluctant to understand that Bush and his folks tend to actually mean what they say...
What do we owe Taiwan, Israel, South Korea?
What have they given us?
yep we are going to be building guam up big time
I'd been in the 16th Engrs, some time back, and that inspired me to look at their website.
Their unit history was an eye-opener. I was in the battalion in 1985-86, during the 19-year-long stretch that they sat in Bavaria, staring at the Soviets, East Germans, and Czechs.
Since 1991, they've deployed repeatedly:
http://www.1ad.army.mil/DIVENG/16THENG/HISTORY1.htm
We can't afford to leave units sitting in garrison for multi-decade "deterrence" operations. Every unit needs to be in the rotation, if any of them are to maintain an effective level of readiness.
12,000 less troops stationed there probably works out to about $200,000,000 less spending in the S. Korean economy.
Having a presence in the heart of Asia has been a good thing for stability in the region.
Are we now going to leave Asia to China expansionism? They want the Spratleys Islands, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan all under mainland government.
Do you think China will stay out of our business in the middle east, if we give them Asia?
Theyve has some boisterous and even violent, well attended protests demanding American troop removal.
The only thing American university students have protested for, in the last 15 years, is for a lower drinking age for beer.
Good! This should send the ungrateful little bastards a message.
Wow, if you thought protests against US armed forces were something to see you'd be amazed at what the Hangooks think of the "Jo-pah-lee" I believe the SKs would receive the NKs with open arms before they let the Japanese army on their soil again.
What popular uprising?
Germany, you're next.
37k v 25k really makes little difference when if N. Korea decides to attack, nearly 1 Million screaming N. Koreans will be screaming over the border.
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