By IRNA,
Berlin : The US is to maintain a stronger military presence in Europe than was initially planned, the deputy commander of the American forces in Europe, Richard Gallagher told Thursday’s edition of the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.
“We have just decided to pull out two more combat brigades, comprised of 15,000 men, by 2013,” Gallagher was quoted as saying according to the German-language transcript of the interview.
This would still leave around 71,000 US troops in Europe once this withdrawal is completed, he added.
Under a pullout plan drawn up by former US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2002, American troop levels were due to be reduced to 62,000.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates had reportedly agreed last year to postpone a scaling back of US troop levels in Europe, following requests from his military commanders who have cited budgetary as well as strategic reasons for their decision.
Europe had been the staging ground for the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.