A new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies argues that removing U.S. forces from overseas locations would serve only to increase the danger to the country.
“For us to pull back from our forward stationed locations, we will be giving up the high ground,” said retired Army Col. David Maxwell, a co-author of “Partnering with Seoul to Deter Pyongyang,” one of 22 essays included in the just-issued “Defending Forward: Securing America by Projecting Military Power Abroad.”
The report, which includes a forward by Obama Administration Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, explains why forward-positioning U.S. forces in concert with allies and partners represents the ideal plan to defend American interests, FDD officials said.
“Withdrawing into a defensive and insular crouch here at home risks leaving Americans more isolated and more vulnerable to threats,” Mr. Panetta wrote in the forward. “More than ever, Americans must go abroad to remain secure at home.”
The essays explore a variety of national security concerns. In “China’s Military Aims,” the author reviews the steps the Chinese Communist Party is taking in their wholesale restructuring and modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.
Meanwhile, “Preserving America’s Military Posture in Germany,” by retired Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commander of U.S. Army-Europe and Bradley Bowman, director of the FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, examines the bilateral U.S.-German relationship and notes U.S. presence there ultimately serves U.S. interests.
“Over the last couple of years there’s been a real discussion about pulling back U.S. forces. President Trump has always talked about withdrawing U.S. troops,” said Col. Maxwell, a former Special Forces officer. “The original intent (of the report) is to show the value of our forward-stationed forces and the strategic flexibility they provide us.”
He said it’s only appropriate for a nation with global interests like the United States to continually assess its presence around the world.
“How do we best position our forces within the political and resource constraints to best serve U.S. national security interests,” Col. Maxwell said.
When the U.S. gives up a forward position, it’s almost impossible to get it back even if the strategic environment changes. Col. Maxwell pointed to the Philippines, where the U.S. maintained a significant military presence for years in places like Clark Air Base and the Subic Bay Naval Base.
“We don’t have any forward-stationed forces there,” he said. “We don’t have the same strategic flexibility that we have had.”
It is the U.S. military presence in South Korea that has deterred an North Korean attack for decades and a new national emphasis on missile defense requires a U.S. presence in the region, Col. Maxwell said.
“It’s in our national interests to have forward-stationed forces,” he said.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s former National Security Advisor, was the author of “The Retrenchment Syndrome.” The FDD essay says even more costly military interventions would be the result of a U.S. military that is disengaged from the rest of the world.
“The paltry savings realized would be dwarfed by the eventual cost of responding to unchecked and undeterred threats to American security, prosperity and influence,” Lt. Gen. McMaster wrote.
But withdrawing U.S. troops from overseas would entail its own significant costs, Col. Maxwell noted. All troops brought back from overseas will have to live somewhere.
“Either we will have to have a huge (military construction) budget to station these units at other posts or you decide that we reduce our military force structure,” he said. “Every dollar spent by our host nation is a dollar that isn’t spent by U.S. taxpayers.”
Col. Maxwell said President-elect Joe Biden will be less likely to “bring the troops back home” than his predecessor.
“They will want to have a stable military presence around the world and not create uncertainty, which of course will breed instability,” he said. “I think they’re going to have an alliance-based national security focus.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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