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U.S. Army Shift to Asia May Include Troops: Report
As part of the ongoing U.S. military shift to Asia, U.S. troops may also be redeployed from Europe to Asia to serve as a hedge against potential conflicts there, a report said Friday.
Army Secretary Thomas E. White, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, said that the U.S. military has to "look at the positioning around the Pacific Rim and to see if there are opportunities" for change.
The report said that some weapons and combat equipment have already been shifted to Asia so far, and the troops may follow soon. White said the movement of military equipment to Asia is "a signal, once again, that we're going to shift our available resources around to fit the strategy."
The military equipment has been moved from several European sites, including in Germany and Italy, to depots in Asia that have been short of some weapons and a full range of gear, from tanks and trucks to tents. The amount shifted was not disclosed.
The Bush administration has already expressed its intention to focus U.S. military might more sharply on national security threats emanating from Asia, and White's comments provided an important signal of how that might happen, the report said.
Members of Bush's national security team have emphasized their view that Asia is likely to be the center of security challenges this century, and the U.S. needs to be better able to project its military power in the region to prevent wars or to respond quickly to them.
Currently, there are 96,000 U.S. troops in Asia, and 119,000 U. S. troops in Europe. The U.S. Army has 29,300 troops in Asia, including 27,482 in South Korea and 1,763 in Japan, and 70,000 troops in Europe, including 55,500 in Germany.
Although White said no final decisions on troop redeployment have been made, such a move would likely be controversial in Asia and Europe.
Key U.S. allies in Asia do not want more U.S. troops on their soil, and there is a general uneasiness about further militarization of that heavily armed region. Countries in the region would be alarmed by any buildup of U.S. military forces in the Pacific, the report said.
And if the troops came to Asia from Europe, the move would likely raise questions about whether America is scaling back its security role there.
Talk of the new emphasis on Asia has already provoked a reaction in Europe, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed during a trip there earlier this year that the American commitment to European security has not diminished.
White acknowledged that any repositioning of U.S. forces would be a sensitive issue abroad and said the United States would take pains to ease allies' doubts.
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