I've read an airborne brigade will remain in Italy and according to this article, we'll have two others in Europe:
For Germany, the Army plans to bring home the 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division, with a mobile brigade using lighter Stryker armored vehicles added at the Grafenwoehr base in Bavaria, and another regular brigade also stationed in the area.
Going from five brigades (two each in 1st ID and 1st AD plus a para bde) now, to three in the future isn't so bad. I've also read that another commission on overseas bases recommends a brigade set of heavy stuff be kept in Europe afloat for crises. If we keep other aviation assets and support units, this may not be a bad intervention force for the next couple decades. Not as good as a full corps, but it makes some sense.
On the other hand, this makes no sense at all:
Earlier this month a few thousand members of Hanchongryon — South Korea's largest student group — staged a demonstration and tore down wire fences at an air force base in Gwangju, demanding the United States remove its Patriot missiles and withdraw from South Korea altogether.
What kind of person do you have to be to protest against weapons designed to protect your country and people from a psychopathic gulag-master who regularly vows to turn your largest city and capital into a sea of fire? Seriously, do they get their marching orders from the Pillsbury Nuke Boy himself? This makes no sense at all.
UPDATE: Jeff at Caerdroia answers my latter question. Yes, Hanchongryon does get its marching orders from the Pillsbury Nuke Boy. Now their stance makes sense. It is no less repulsive, but now I understand why they chant the way they do. But now somebody explain to me why Canada opposes our missile defense plans. Surely not everybody is a Kimunist.
