U.S. lean to Europe a Pacific worry

Press, 12 August 1978, Page 7

U.S. lean to Europe a Pacific worry

B ROBERT MILLER Honolulu The Pacific nations aligned with the United States in post-Vietnam Asia are worried about renewed American attention ty Europe and wonder about past promises of protection if they are attacked by their Communist neighbours. Concerned American diplomats and military commanders in the Pacific fea* they are watching a rerun of the W-,rid War II scenario where Europe got pnorit over the Pacific. Soothing words of a surance are being given by the Americans to all who will listen. They c airn that, in spite of Vietnam and the threatened withdrawals of ground troops in Korea, there has been no weakening of America’s determination to honour its treaty obligations with the Pacific countries — “within the limitations imposed by the American Constitution.” Now. American diplomats in Asia, who have been reluctant to give reporters the dates on the calendar, offer briefings a’ the drop of an attache < ase. They expound on the ‘/long-standing friendships” and the “cultural and historic ties” uniting Asia and America. They offer large doses of diplomatic tonics in their efforts to revitalise the American image in Asia. But the wary Asians are not buying the American line. Several countries are scrambling to make beI a t e d accommodations with their Communist neighbours. Others, like .Japan. Korea and Taiwan, who have signed on the

dottea line with the United States, feel like the new- car buyer, who detects ominous noises under the hood the day after the warranty expires. The 20-20 visioned Asians needed no bifocals to see what happened to America’s allies in Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam. They read with alarm President Carter’s announcement of the planned withdraw’al of American ground troops m Korea. They fear that the Americans are considering how to deal with the Taiwan problem in the light of possible ties with Peking. Washington’s decision to send an additional 8000 troops to Europe to bolster the N.A.T.O. forces furrowed military brows for two reasons — the Pacific commanders explained privately that the 8000 additional troops would be as effective as a garden hose in the Sahara if the Russians attacked Europe; and they see the decision as an indication of the preference Washington is giving Europe at the expense of Asia. “The first squadron of F-15S has already been sent to Europe while we are still waiting for the long-promised F-15S on Okinawa.” lamented a senior Air Force commander. “Defence Secretary Harold Brcwn says Europe got the priority because the areas posing the most serious threats to peace get the F-15S. What the hell does he think Kim II Sung is doing in North Korea - Conducting Sunday School classes?” The Navy’s Pacific admirals, who are charged with the job of keeping

the Indian and Pacific Ocean sea lanes open in event of a war or confrontation with Russia, are bluntly pessimistic. Their consensus: “Right now we would have only an even chance of preventing the Soviets from cutting the important sea lines of communication into the western Pacific.” America has only 140,000 men under arms in the Western Pacific protecting 259 million sq. km — half the earth's surface, the smallest number since before World War 11. This includes one army division in Korea — about to be withdrawn, one marine division on Okinawa — 11,000, one army division in Hawaii and one marinv brigade in Hawaii. A Navy statistician at Pear! Harbour figured that America’s strength in the Pacific command worked out at one fighting man to every 184 sq. km. The United States has three ships permanently assigned to the Indian Ocean — a tender and two frigates. But carrier task forces make periodic flag-showing sorties into the Indian Ocean “just to remind the Russians that we’re still around,” explained one former carrier commander. The latest Navy intelligence figures show that the Russians have 25 ships in the Indian Ocean alone. The official spokesman for every command in the Pacific parrots the same phrase: "It is absolutely essential .that America maintain forward-based forces in the western Pacific.” But when the 2nd Division is taken out of Korea, the only American combat-ready troops west of Hawaii will be the 11,000 men of the Third Marine Division based on Okinawa. There are 48,700 American servicemen and women in Japan and Okinawa, of which only 2500 are army and none of those are combat troops.