18 August 2004
White House Report, August 18: U.S. Troop Realignment
Troop realignment emphasizes terrorism threat
"We must continue to transform our military to better protect the American people against the dangers of the 21st century," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters August 18 at a briefing onboard Air Force One en route to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Pointing to the modern threat of terrorism, the spokesman defended a recent decision by the Bush administration to reorganize the U.S. military.
On August 16, President Bush announced the realignment of U.S. forces overseas and said that 60,000 to 70,000 U.S. troops would be pulled out of Asia and Europe military facilities over the next 10 years. According to the White House, the initiative aims to move away from a heavy and slower Cold War arrangement to one of greater flexibility.
McClellan said, "We will realign our forces and strengthen our military capabilities so that we're in a better position to fight and win the war on terrorism."
"What we're doing is transforming the military, in part, by building a more flexible, more agile, more lethal, and more technologically advanced troop structure," he said.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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