Washington: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to halt plans to scale back army troops in Europe and will keep more than 40,000 in Germany and Italy, The New York Times reported today.

Gates has accepted recommendations from the two senior officers in Europe to maintain about 43,000 troops in Europe, stopping a drawdown that began two years ago, the Times said citing senior Pentagon and military officials. The number of army troops in Europe, which stood at 62,000 two years ago, was supposed to drop to about 24,000 by the end of 2008 under plans initiated by Gates predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld.

But General Bantz Craddock, the commander of US forces in Europe, and General David McKiernan, the top US army commander in Europe, have advocated keeping the larger troop presence.

McKiernan cited uncertainties about a "resurgent Russia" as one reason to do so, while Craddock has said a study of his command s requirements concluded more troops were needed to meet the tasks assigned to it. Citing senior Pentagon officials familiar with Gates thinking, the Times said the defense chief was swayed by practical budgetary concerns as much as by the strategic policy arguments presented by the two generals. With housing for all returning soldiers not yet completed, the army could waste millions of dollars on temporary residences for the soldiers and to move the families twice, the army told Gates, according to the Times.
 
"The secretary is inclined to approve General Craddock s request to delay the redeployment of the brigades, less from a philosophical standpoint than from a practical standpoint," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell was quoted as saying. "It happens to satisfy the needs of General Craddock and of the army."

Source : PTI