US planning to boost troop levels in S-E Asia

The Straits Times ^ | 5.30.03 | Roger Mitton

[Enemy Of The State]

US planning to boost troop levels in S-E Asia By Roger Mitton WASHINGTON - Radical moves are afoot to reposition American troops in East Asia, say top officials in the United States Defence Department. The plan involves relocating, or even closing, bases in Japan and South Korea, while boosting troop levels in Australia, Singapore and the Philippines. Also under consideration is a plan to seek an agreement to base US Navy ships in Vietnamese waters, reported the Los Angeles Times, citing senior administration officials. Under the proposed realignment of forces, US troops now massed in Korea and Japan would be shifted to a network of smaller facilities in the region, in countries such as Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. Several reasons are given for the changes, premised on a need to have troop deployment better reflect the reality of a post-Cold War and post-Sept 11 world. For instance, there is less reason now to have massive bases in South Korea and Japan - where more than 70 per cent of the 100,000 US troops in East Asia are to be found - with the passing of the 'Red China' Cold War threat. Another key factor is the fear of terrorist attacks on US interests, which could be launched anywhere. So the current thinking is to relocate US forces away from major concentrations to smaller, more mobile units that can be deployed rapidly to counter terrorist threats globally. But putting the plan into practice will be difficult, not least having to surmount the political hurdles in places like the Philippines, where the closure of the former Subic Bay and Clark bases were a result, in part, of strong anti-American feeling. The whole question of relocating US troops around East Asia is viewed by many observers here as being fraught with danger and extremely sensitive. Mr Ted Carpenter, vice-president of foreign policy at the Cato Institute noted: 'By raising this issue they have put a cat among the pigeons in East Asia.' Mr John Newhouse, a senior fellow at the Centre for Defence Information of the Korean pull-out, said: 'That does not seem viable to me, but the Bush administration does very odd and dangerous things sometimes, so I can't exclude it.'

 

[Enterprise]

Ach der lieber! Deutsch sprechen isn't going to do much good in Asia!

[WesternPacific]

The bases in the Philippines have been closed and we do not Station troops in Australia.

[section9]

Ah, but it does seem that we are relocating away from Korea and toward the Straits of Malacca area. The important bit of this story is the mentioning of "Vietnamese waters".

That can only mean Cam Ranh Bay. I've been waiting for ten years for us to get that anchorage back. Looks like the SRVN and the US may be doing some negotiating.

BTW, this is very much about China. Were this only about terrorism, we'd have no interest in CRB. The entire purpose of this move is to pull our troops and ships back from exposed forward positions and position them closer to the Straits, a vital sea lane through which a lot of oil passes.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Almondjoy]

On top of that the situation assumes that Japan and Korea will take a larger role in the defense of the northern pacific. I would assume from this that with anti-americanism bubbling in South Korea that they and the Japanese might be deciding on some new mutual and beefed up security measures.

[Lysandru]

Mr John Newhouse, a senior fellow at the Centre for Defence Information of the Korean pull-out, said: 'That does not seem viable to me, but the Bush administration does very odd and dangerous things sometimes, so I can't exclude it.'

Mr. Newhouse, eat my crusty brown shorts...