Bush announces major U.S. troop redeployment
By Wolf Blitzer
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush announced a sweeping redeployment of U.S. troops around the world on Monday.
"Although we'll still have a significant presence overseas, under the plan I'm announcing today, over the next 10 years, we will bring home about 60,000 to 70,000 uniformed personnel and about 100,000 family members and civilian employees," President Bush announced.
No troops will be coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan.
Addressing the 105th annual meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cincinnati, the president said the redeployment has been in the works for three years and will enable the United States to better fight the war on terror.
"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," the president said.
Pentagon and senior administration officials have told CNN that most of the reductions will come from Europe -- the rest, from Asia.
"America's current force posture was designed, for example, to protect us and our allies from Soviet aggression. The threat no longer exists," said President Bush.
It didn't take long for top advisers to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry to blast the president's decision.
"There is no question in my mind that this will weaken our national security. I was ambassador to Germany. I know that the Germans are very unhappy about these withdrawals. The Koreans are going to be equally unhappy," Richard Holbrooke, and adviser to the Kerry presidential campaign said on CNN Monday.
"How can we withdraw troops from Korea while engaged in a delicate negotiation with the North Koreans," the former U.N. ambassador added.
Another Kerry adviser, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, added this:
"It's a move that doesn't make any sense militarily because they are just as flexible where they are in Germany. And, in fact, most of those troops right now are in Iraq or are just returning from Iraq."
Kerry will be able to make his case directly to the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Wednesday.
