Bush Set to Announce Withdrawal of Up to 100,000 Troops From Europe and Asia

President George W. Bush was expected to announce Monday a sweeping restructuring of American troop deployments overseas, with plans to withdraw as many as 100,000 soldiers from bases in Europe and Asia over the next three to four years. The announcement was anticipated at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The redeployment would most heavily affect US forces stationed in Germany and South Korea, countries that hosted large American contingents throughout the Cold War to counter Soviet and communist threats. Those troops would largely return to bases in the United States.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has championed the overhaul since the September 11 attacks, arguing that fixed, static bases suited to repelling conventional armies no longer fit modern security needs. The Pentagon envisions a leaner network of main operating bases in Germany, Italy, Britain, Japan, and South Korea, supplemented by smaller forward sites holding pre-positioned equipment.

In Asia, a 12,500-troop reduction in South Korea had already been announced. Officials also discussed positioning a second aircraft carrier group in the Asia-Pacific region to address concerns over North Korea's nuclear program. Pentagon leaders had been briefing Congress for months to ease worries about the initiative's effect on NATO alliances.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.