Troops Withdraw In Ten Years

U.S. President George W. Bush is pulling 60,000 to 70,000 American troops out of central Europe and Asia, redeploying them on American soil and in eastern Europe.

The withdrawal will take up to a decade and will include the repatriation of 100,000 family members and support personnel, Bush told a conference of military veterans in Cincinnati on Monday.


Bush, speaking to veterans in Cincinnati, Ohio, said "The world has changed a great deal and our posture must change with it, for the sake of our military families, for the sake of our taxpayers.

"The new plan will help us fight and win the wars of the 21st century."

About 13,000 troops will leave South Korea, where 37,000 soldiers are now stationed.

Most of the others will withdraw from American bases in Germany as the United States scales back organizational structures left over from the Cold War.

The bases were set up after the Second World War, when the main enemies of the U.S. were countries in the former Soviet bloc.

Russia is now an ally, while a loose coalition of militant groups led by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda is seen as the greatest threat to U.S. citizens and business interests.