U.S. to shift 4,000 GIs to Iraq from South Korea

[Chicago Democrat]

TOKYO The United States plans to shift an army brigade of about 4,000 soldiers from South Korea to Iraq, according to American and South Korean officials.
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"The United States recently proposed to deploy a part of the United States Forces in Korea in Iraq and the two countries have entered discussions," Kim Sook, the head of the Foreign Ministry's North America bureau, told a press conference Monday in Seoul.
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In what would be the first move of American troops from South Korea to Iraq, the shift would involve about 4,000 troops from the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division, according to a senior Pentagon official in Washington. Under a 50-year-old security treaty, about 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter any attack from communist North Korea.
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(Snip)
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"Look at American troops levels," Richard Holbrooke, president of The Asia Society, said last week after a breakfast meeting with Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon. "In the past emergencies, we have drawn down troops and material in Korea. The question is: Will they come back?"
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Earlier this year, to allay fears over the American redeployment away from its "tripwire" position on the Demilitarized Zone along the border between North and South Korea, the United States promised to spend $11 billion to upgrade American forces in the south.

rest at...

http://www.iht.com/articles/520224.html

[leetrisck]

1. From Korea to Iraq - most Korean tours are one year

unaccompanied - so - some could have already been gone close to a year (from home) and now another year.

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Some troops volunteered for an extended tour in Korea

to avoid deployment to Middle East. I wonder how many of these 4000 troops fell for that scam?

[struggle4progress]

2. kick

:kick:

[peacetalksforall]

4. Another hypocritical move...

how many talking heads have said the North Korea is our greatest threat? Will those who rated No Korea number 1, please speak up.