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Pentagon ready to test idea with Asian allies on troop changes
Tumon, Nov 13: The Pentagon is ready to `test various ideas` with Asian allies on changing the makeup and basing of American combat forces in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere in the region, Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said today at the outset of a six-day Asia tour.
Tumon, Nov 13: The Pentagon is ready to "test various ideas" with Asian allies on changing the makeup and basing of American combat forces in Japan, South Korea and elsewhere in the region, Defense Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said today at the outset of a six-day Asia tour.
In an interview en route to this US island territory,
Rumsfeld declined to offer any specifics other than to say the
Pentagon might want access to more or different locations in
Asia and the Pacific.
His trip, to include stops in Japan and South Korea, is his first to Asia since becoming Defense Secretary in January 2001. The last Defense Secretary to visit was William Cohen in March 2000.
Upon arrival here Rumsfeld issued a brief written statement on an Iranian opposition militia, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MeK, that is present inside U.S.-controlled Iraq. The organization is on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, and some have raised questions recently about why the militia remains inside Iraq and has not been disarmed by U.S. forces.
``MeK members in Iraq are presently contained within existing camps where they are being screened for possible involvement in war crimes, terrorism or other criminal activity,'' Rumsfeld said. He said the United States will not allow the MeK to reconstitute in Iraq as a terrorist organization.
Bureau Report
His trip, to include stops in Japan and South Korea, is his first to Asia since becoming Defense Secretary in January 2001. The last Defense Secretary to visit was William Cohen in March 2000.
Upon arrival here Rumsfeld issued a brief written statement on an Iranian opposition militia, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, or MeK, that is present inside U.S.-controlled Iraq. The organization is on the U.S. government's list of terrorist organizations, and some have raised questions recently about why the militia remains inside Iraq and has not been disarmed by U.S. forces.
``MeK members in Iraq are presently contained within existing camps where they are being screened for possible involvement in war crimes, terrorism or other criminal activity,'' Rumsfeld said. He said the United States will not allow the MeK to reconstitute in Iraq as a terrorist organization.
Bureau Report