U.S. Should Preempt Korean War
The best way to avoid a new Korean War is to deter future North Korean provocations. Reducing U.S. forces in the region doesn't do that.
The potential for a conventional war on the Korean peninsula is an unfortunate reality. That American forces are not properly postured to fight in a renewed Korean War makes such a conflict more likely to occur and less likely to end quickly. There are, of course, monetary and political costs in the United States, Japan and South Korea for increasing troop presence on the peninsula and for canceling plans to relocate Marines from Okinawa. But the military and civilian casualties that would be averted if North Korea is successfully deterred from further aggression…should be worth the cost in dollars and political capital.
