This might be the sweetest news of the day:
The Bush administration yesterday held out the possibility that it would reduce U.S. military presence in South Korea and Germany, both of whom have expressed increasing displeasure over the basing and use of U.S. troops there.
“There is a school of thought to rethink the numbers and types of forces we have in different locations as events warrant,” Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said. “Our objectives would be to maintain our military presence, to assure our friends and allies, while deterring, if necessary, and defeating adversaries.”
Although the administration said troop reductions have nothing to do with recent diplomatic rifts between the United States and the two nations, a senior official said the sudden action contains a not-so-subtle message.
“Let’s just say that if they take it as a slight, they’re paying attention,” the official said.
No number of US troops — many desperately needed elsewhere — can save the Germans or the South Koreans from themselves.
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