US to Withdraw 12,500 Troops from South Korea

The law of unintended consequences continues to affect the Bush administration's foreign lack-of-policy. Over-stretched in Iraq, the Pentagon has said it wants to cut the US deployment in the Korean Peninsula by 12,500 soldiers, a third of the force there, and redeploy about 3,600 of those troops to Iraq. Oddly, this makes dealing with North Korea a bit easier.

In the "axis of evil," North Korea actually is a major threat to the North Pacific region, while Iran and Iraq were, at best, local annoyances rather than threats. The criminally insane regime in Pyongyang certainly has tried to acquire nuclear weapons, could well have chemical artillery shells, and undeniably is unbalanced enough to sell extremely dangerous weapons systems to extremely dangerous people.

In its paranoia, the North Korean regime believes that the US forces in South Korea are there to wage a war of conquest, and now that the Bush administration has made a war of choice on Iraq, there are actual facts to back up the perception. Moreover, the American military has suggested that it base the US troops farther away from the demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel, which actually is a destabilizing maneuver. It takes US soldiers out of artillery range, making them less a trip-wire and more a force for sudden surprise -- sudden movements of troops where the enemy can see them are worrisome, but observation can be a stabilizing factor.

However, if the Americans truly remove forces from the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese will be able to argue to Pyongyang (and have a chance at being heard) that some quid pro quo is in order; the resumption of the nuclear monitoring deal struck a while back springs to mind.

Whether the communist North Koreans will listen to the crypto-capitalists in Beijing is a difficult matter to determine. Still, the military realities in Iraq require the US to take troops from somewhere else to shore up the current situation. Were the White House to wrap the movement up as a new diplomatic initiative to lower tensions on the Korean peninsula, it might just discover that influence is easier, less bloody and more popular with the voters than force. Mr. Bush has received some lemons; can he make lemonade?


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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