The Hindu : International : 70,000 U.S. troops will return home in 10 years: Bush

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004

International

International

70,000 U.S. troops will return home in 10 years: Bush

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG. 17. In what is being billed as a major foreign policy announcement, the United States President, George W. Bush, has formally declared that between 60,000 and 70,000 American troops serving overseas will be pulled back over a 10-year period. "Our service members will have more time on the home front," he said.

Mr. Bush spoke of a "more agile and more flexible force" and of changes in the international system that have taken place over the years.

"The world has changed a great deal and our posture must change with it," he said referring to the shift away from the challenges posed by the then Soviet Union to one of the war on terror.

Mr. Bush was speaking at a function for Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cincinnati, Ohio. His plan will also bring back 1,00,000 family members and support staff back home.

The proposal to cut back the overseas deployment of American troops has been on the anvil for some time now and, over the last several weeks, hints have been dropped to this effect.

At the same time, officials have stressed that any pullback is not going to be abrupt and that it will take time given the negotiations that will have to take place with the host countries.

Earlier this month, the Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, hinted at the proposed troops realignments. "We've decided that it's time to shift our posture in Europe and Asia and around the world and move from static defence which does not make much sense today, to a more deployable and usable set of capabilities."

Officials have also made it known that the bulk of the repositioning will be from American forces in Europe — notably from Germany — and the rest will come out of the Asia Pacific.

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