President Bush has announced a major reconfiguration of American military forces overseas. He says the U.S. should transfer 70,000 to 100,000 troops currently deployed in Western Europe and East Asia. Many would be relocated to the U.S. itself, while others will be placed in Eastern European bases that will be cheaper to maintain and are somewhat closer to the Middle East and Central Asian theaters where U.S. military action seems most likely in the future.
It’s about time. We should have downsized our presence in Europe a long time ago. It is a relic of the Cold War and has served essentially to subsidize Europe’s welfare states by sparing them the responsibility of fielding a real national defense (one of the few true responsibilities of national governments, of course). To a lesser extent, the same arguments apply in Japan.
As for Korea, U.S. forces can be withdrawn without substantially affecting the defense of the South from the North. Manpower-wise, that defense has long been predicated on South Korean troops, not American ones, while we will still offer air support and other assistance should war break out there.
All in all, a sensible move that reduces America’s military footprint outside our borders, always a good general goal, while preserving our freedom of action in places where we do have a legitimate interest (such as countries that aid, train, fund, or harbor anti-American terrorists).
