Rearrangement of U.S. Troops To Be Announced Next Month at the Earliest

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld revealed on November 14 that the U.S. and allied forces are not considering early withdrawal of troops, despite new efforts by the U.S. to accelerate the return of sovereignty to Iraq.

“The decision to withdraw the troops has not been made yet,” he said, stressing that President Bush has clarified the U.S. intention to stay in Iraq as long as it needs.

Rumsfeld, who is currently making a tour of Asian countries, made the remarks to the local U.S. troops at his first stopover at the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam before his visit to Japan.

In regard to the rearrangement of U.S. troops, he said, “The U.S. has made a preliminary decision about rearranging the U.S. troops, and we are now at the stage of discussing it with allies and the congress,” adding that they might be able to formally announce the rearrangement scheme sometime next month.

In particular, he strongly suggested the possibility of a reduction and reorganization of U.S. troops in Korea by casting doubt on the idea that the 37,000 U.S. soldiers in Korea could not be committed to areas other than the Korean peninsula.

He also said, “U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer (who was summoned to Washington urgently) will return to Iraq and search for a way to accelerate the task of handing over sovereignty and public security responsibilities to Iraq,” and denied the possibility of early withdrawal of troops repeatedly by saying, “But it doesn’t mean that U.S. troops will leave Iraq earlier than was expected from the beginning.”

He said, “Allied forces will continue to stay in Iraq and bear the responsibility of contributing to the reconstruction of Iraq,” adding that “each country should make its own decision regarding the deployment of troops.”

With the number of U.S. soldiers killed or injured in Iraq increasing, the U.S. administration amended its original plan to hand over sovereign power to Iraq following the establishment of the constitution and holding a general election, provoking the assumption that they were preparing early withdrawal of troops.

Rumsfeld, who arrived in Japan via Guam on November 14, met with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and allegedly asked him to deploy Japan’s self-defense forces as soon as possible.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other sources in the Japanese press, Rumsfeld allegedly explained the basic policy of the U.S. government concerning the reorganization of U.S. troops in Japan.

Jung-Ahn Kim Hun-Joo Cho credo@donga.com hanscho@donga.com