Good point, Kumar,
But the US has treaty obligations with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and possibly Thailand and Singapore. The US also has the Taiwan Relations Act (a US law) which mandates that the United States will ensure that Taiwan can defend itself--the current administration has taken this several steps further, with Pres. Bush's pledge a year ago that the US would "do whatever it takes" to defend Taiwan.
Beyond obligation, the fact is that the US is the dominant military power in Asia and the Western Hemisphere, with bases in South Korea, Japan, and Guam; and base access rights with Singapore, and Australia. Nature abhors a vacuum, so if the US military left the region, something else would fill it; if history is a guide, that "something" would be Japan or China, or more likely competition between the two. |
