Bush Announces Plan for Realignment of Troops

[Guest Guest]

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2...16/121144.shtml

 

Bush Announces Plan for Realignment of Troops

 

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 WASHINGTON – President Bush on Monday announced plans to shift 60,000 to 70,000 U.S. troops who are now stationed in Europe and Asia in one of the largest troop realignments since the end of the Cold War.

 

Some of the troops would be shifted to posts in Eastern Europe, White House officials said, and it remained unclear if the overall number of U.S. troops stationed overseas would drop.

 

The action, which has been years in the making, follows years of debate over how to position U.S. troops to respond to modern-day threats such as terrorism and the volatile Middle East.

 

It could gain Bush election-year applause from military families but won't ease the strain on 150,000 U.S. soldiers deployed to war zones, who are still battling violent factions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

"The world has changed a great deal, and our posture must change with it - for the sake of our military families, for the sake of our taxpayers and so we can be more effective at projecting our strength and spreading freedom and peace," Bush said.

 

Bush spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati where veterans, wearing the group's trademark caps covered with colorful pins, gave him a warm welcome.

 

The president said the repositioning of forces would help save money on maintaining bases overseas.

 

"Our service members will have more time on the home front, and more predictability and fewer moves over a career," Bush said.

 

A significant portion of the troops would be sent to bases in the United States, although others could be shifted to posts in Eastern Europe, White House officials said.

 

A U.S. military official in Berlin offered a note of caution as the president spoke, saying Monday that any shift of major U.S. military units out of western Europe and Asia would take years and require further negotiation.

 

Even with Bush's endorsement, the plan will probably be put into practice only somewhere between 2006 and 2011, said the official, who is familiar with the process and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

 

The official said some details have been discussed with the affected countries, but more talks would be needed to settle such matters as units, dates and specific numbers.

 

U.S. armed forces stationed abroad in places other than Iraq and Afghanistan number about 200,000. About half are in Europe. The Pentagon advised German officials earlier this year that it was thinking about removing two Army divisions from Germany and replacing them with smaller, more mobile units.

 

[Homesteader]

The world keeps changing so I'm sure the troops need to be re-arranged. Most of those bases and troops were set up when the cold war was still in progress. On top of it, some of these countries no longer "welcome" our troops. I just hope they plan it out well and put our people where the can do the most good and protect us the best.

[Guest Guest]

I was very happy to hear about this. I'd rather they come home then be in Europe and Asia. Then maybe they can be used instead of sending National Guard troups. JMHO di

[Guest Guest]

Since our current greatest threat comes from the Middle East terrorists, I think the theory is to move a few bases closer to the source, as well as help some economically faltering countries who have been loyal allies. Germany is upset about losing the millions and millions of US dollars that we pour into their economy......too bad, so sad.

 

http://www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2396227

 

Proposed troop shift favors new allies

Major change: Germany could lose bases while the ex-Soviet Bloc might see an increase in soldiers

By Matt Kelley

The Associated Press

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON - President Bush's plan to restructure U.S. military forces abroad includes bringing two Army divisions home from Cold War-era bases in Germany and increasing the U.S. presence at bases in countries such as Poland, Romania and Uzbekistan, Pentagon officials said Monday.

Bush said the realignment would bring up to 70,000 troops - and about 100,000 family members and civilian workers - back to the United States within a decade. More than 200,000 U.S. troops are now stationed overseas, a majority of them in Europe.

Pentagon officials said the realignment also would close scores of U.S. military installations in Europe to consolidate forces at larger bases. At the same time, the United States would make greater use of training and logistics bases on the soil of its new allies, said three top Pentagon officials who briefed reporters.

The moves are meant to give the military greater flexibility and a quicker reaction time to deal with the smaller military engagements that Pentagon planners foresee during the war on terrorism and beyond.

Democratic critics said Bush's plan would place more troops further from potential battlefields and wear out soldiers with more frequent training overseas, away from families.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said Bush's plan ''will significantly undermine U.S. national security.''

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry was asked by reporters for his reaction to Bush's move as he finished a bike ride near his family's retreat in Ketchum, Idaho. He replied: ''It's a great day for a ride. Fabulous.'' He said later he had not seen the president's televised address.

In Germany, the two heavy armored divisions will be replaced with one brigade, a unit roughly one-third the size of a division's 15,000 or so troops. Instead of tanks, the replacement unit will be outfitted with new Stryker vehicles, the smaller, lighter and faster armored vehicles that are a key part of the Army's future strategy.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other administration officials have frequently discussed the realignment with allies. Rumsfeld, who proposed the changes before the 2001 terrorist attacks, reassured Kremlin officials over the weekend in Russia that the U.S. moves into former Soviet and Warsaw Pact territory are not a threat to Moscow.

The United States has had about 1,000 soldiers in Uzbekistan ever since the war in neighboring Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. It has no soldiers permanently based in Poland and Romania, although it conducts some training exercises with those countries.

The changes would not directly affect the 150,000 troops involved in or supporting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both divisions based in Germany have seen action in Iraq, where the U.S. military presence increasingly relies on National Guard and Reserve forces.

Some German officials were dismayed at the troop shifts, which would cause multimillion-dollar holes in economies near U.S. bases.

''Base closures would hit us very hard,'' said spokesman Ole Kruse in the city of Wuerzburg, home of the 1st Infantry Division.

Underscoring the delicate balancing of military needs and diplomatic maneuvering, Bush administration officials offered few details of the realignment plans Monday - and did so only on condition of anonymity. They said any major shifts would not begin until at least 2006 and possibly later. The officials involved are all closely involved in the planning and negotiating involved.

The officials said the United States planned no new, major overseas bases. Poland has offered several bases for training, and U.S. officials are talking with Turkish officials about using the Incirlik air base, where allied planes patrolling the former ''no-fly zone'' over northern Iraq were based.

The U.S. officials refused to discuss plans for troop shifts in Asia. U.S. and South Korean officials previously said about one-third of the 37,000 American forces in South Korea will soon leave. The United States and Japan are discussing possible changes for the more than 40,000 troops in Japan, but the officials would not say whether that involved increasing or decreasing the number.

Bush announced the plans in a speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Ohio, an election battleground state. Bush cast the shift as both a way to make the military more flexible and to give troops and their families more stability.

''Our service members will have more time on the home front, and more predictability and fewer moves over a career,'' Bush said.

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Harry Truman would be rolling over in his grave if he thought U.S. troops were still in Germany and Korea 50 years later.