I recently said that Bush's plan to realign troops was a good idea, but wondered why the Hell we were reducing troops in South Korea. Ezra at Pandagon thinks it's a good idea at a bad time:

...world affairs are in too great an upheaval to begin shuffling our military forces. With North Korea still a threat and the possibility of Islamic violence high, we don't want to deal with the psychic consequences of changing our deployments now. In world affairs, interpretation is important, and various allied and opposing countries may take this wrong, further overturning any semblance of predictability in the international realm.

...

That's why having a President you trust is so crucial; in the hands of bumbler, even the best policy is dangerous. But under the control of a steady leader, overdue changes like this one can finally be implemented.

Which is a valid point. When the world hates our President, is it a good time for our President to change how our military is spread across the globe? Perhaps not.

Furthermore, here's an observation so obvious that I'm hitting myself:

Despite the Pentagon's denials, it seems deliberate that the two largest withdrawals have been proposed for countries that the Bush administration has had serious differences with in recent years, over Iraq in the German case, and over negotiating strategy with North Korea in the case of Seoul. Both countries have been working hard to patch up relations - South Korea is one of the few American allies with troops in Iraq - but the Pentagon does not seem interested in reciprocating.

Realigning our troops is still a good idea. It'll reduce costs, reduce troop relocations, and better address the enemies of today. However, do we want the Bush administration initiating such a plan when the world is already questioning our motives, when leaders will assume we're punishing Germany whether or not it's true, and when South Korea not only needs our help but has earned it?

I've been swayed. It is a good idea, but not now, and not if it is implemented by Bush.

UPDATE: Fixed a bad link.

Oh, and John Kerry asked the same question I did:

"Why are we unilaterally withdrawing 12,000 troops from the Korean Peninsula at the very time we are negotiating with North Korea -- a country that really has nuclear weapons?'

UPDATE: Another good point by Atrios, showing how this proposal is misleading.