Troop deployment

Three weeks ago Kerry said:

"I think we can significantly change the deployment of troops [in Iraq], not just there but elsewhere in the world. In the Korean peninsula perhaps, in Europe perhaps. There are great possibilities open to us. But this administration has very little imagination."

Yesterday

In a speech to a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Cincinnati, Ohio, Kerry said such a large-scale redeployment of American troops, the most significant rearrangement of US troops since the early days of the cold war, "could impair the nation’s security" and hamper the campaign against terrorism.

I was thinking of creating a database and having a system to track John Kerry’s flip-flops. aThough having to buy a supercomputer with terabytes of storage is cost prohibitive.

I think obviously the time has come for a redeployment of our troops since we are no longer facing a cold war model. The world situation and troop and weapons capabilities have change so much since WWII and the Korean War. From the analysis I have read of critics of this it sounds too much like if Bush is for it were against it. I think the most ridiculous reason I read today of why we shouldn’t redeploy the troops was from an article the The New Republic. The author starts by saying this makes intuitive military sense and then says:

But though the plan seems like a good move on the surface, it is in fact a terrible idea. First and foremost, it would end probably the best thing America has had going in public diplomacy during the past 50 years–and at a time when public diplomacy is vital to U.S. security. Easily recognized by their jeans and baseball hats, military families have for decades been front-line ambassadors of American values and culture to the nations in which they have been stationed. Military personnel and their families come from every part of America; and they live, work, worship, and learn among citizens of the nations where they are stationed. Some live on base in military housing, while others live off base in whatever kinds of homes and neighborhoods the locals inhabit. But all spend time in the communities where they are stationed. Mandatory briefings, military public service announcements, and admonishments from commanders and teachers constantly remind them–even the children–that they are ambassadors of all things American. Locals and their American guests develop relationships and get to know each other as friends, neighbors, customers, tenants, and even congregants.

And the diplomacy works both ways. When those same military families return to the United States, they become, in effect, ambassadors to their fellow Americans of the countries in which they have lived.

Yeah we have developed so much good will in Germany that they have constantly opposed us on the UN Security Council. But regardless of that, the purpose of the military is not to be ambassadors-at-large. The job is to be both a deterrent to aggression and when necessary fight. We will not be totally leaving either Korea or Germany and if the needs warrant we can still temporarily forward deploy more troops there. What we do need to do is to beef up our troop rapid deployment capabilities since we have lost much since the first Gulf War and even then much improvement was needed.