Dem senators move to halt potential U.S. troop withdrawal from S. Korea
A pair of Democratic senators on Wednesday introduced an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would stop President Trump from withdrawing U.S. forces from South Korea without the Pentagon's input.
The amendment "would help prevent the President from making a rash decision about troop reductions on the Korean Peninsula that negatively impacts our national security," Sens. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) and Chris Murphy (Conn.) said in a joint statement.
Introduced for the Fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the provision would stop a withdraw "unless the U.S. Secretary of Defense certifies it is in our national security interest and would not significantly undermine the security of our allies in the region."
The amendment was introduced following Trump's announcement Tuesday that the U.S. would cease its joint military drills with South Korea as long as talks with North Korea are ongoing. The halted exercises seem to be a concession to Pyongyang, which has repeatedly claimed that the drills are practice for a strike against North Korea.
Trump on Wednesdaycontinued to tout his decision to suspend the military exercises as he returned from meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
"We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith — which both sides are!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
While a reduction in U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula was not on the table in discussions with Kim, Trump did say that "at some point" he wants "to get our soldiers out."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/dem-senators-move-to-halt-potential-us-troop-withdrawal-from-s-korea/ar-AAyAO8D?li=BBnb7Kz
= new reply since forum marked as read
