US denies plans to cut troops in Europe

The US government is not planning to cut the number of troops in Europe, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

Rumsfeld said some people had gained the impression that he might recommend to Bush that the United States pay more attention to security issues in the Asia-Pacific region at the expense of its deep involvement in Europe.

‘‘Yes, Asia is growing and it is an important part of the world,’’ he said.

‘‘Any suggestion that the United States is going to, or ought to, or might, turn away from Europe is fundamentally flawed in logic.’’

Rumsfeld flew to Ankara, Turkey, to open a week-long European tour that is his most extensive overseas trip since taking office.

In February he spent one day at a European security conference in Germany but mostly he has been at the Pentagon reviewing US military commitments.

Among Rumsfeld’s stops will be Nato headquarters in Brussels - his first meeting with alliance defence ministers since December 1976, shortly before he ended his first stint as defence secretary.

In the early 1990s, with the demise of the threat of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, the United States cut its forces in Europe from about 300,000 to 100,000 troops concentrated mostly in Germany.

It has kept its troop levels in Asia at about 100,000 - mostly in Japan and South Korea.

Some have speculated that Rumsfeld might recommend cutting forces in Europe.

‘‘There has been no discussion about any troop adjustments, and it would be wrong to inject that into the discussion and cause tremors unnecessarily and inaccurately,’’ Rumsfeld said.

‘‘We are, of course, looking at how forces are arranged, not only in Europe but elsewhere in the world.

‘‘What might come out of it I don’t know. We’re not at that stage.’’

While in Turkey, Rumsfeld has scheduled meetings with senior government officials in Ankara and plans to fly to Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, the staging base for US and British air patrols over northern Iraq.