By Zachary Keck
The USMC’s top officer is uncertain about how much forward presence the U.S. needs in Asia.
The top officer in the U.S. Marine Corps “doesn’t know” what his service’s Asia-Pacific force posture should look like in the future.
Gen. James Amos, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a DC think tank audience on Tuesday that he doesn’t know what the U.S. Marines’ forward presence in Asia should be in the coming years.
“How much is enough to be there?” General Amos asked rhetorically in response to a question about the role Asia will play in the USMC’s post-Afghanistan future. “Right now we are just trying to rebuild relationships,” he added, singling out Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and Thailand as examples of this. He also marveled at the fact that the U.S. and Vietnam are enhancing their defense cooperation despite the historical enmity between the two countries.
Gen. Amos did say that President Barack Obama’s decision to place greater emphasis on the Asia-Pacific is the right approach in light of Asia’s growing importance to the global economy and the fact that five out of America’s seven major treaties are with allies in the Asia-Pacific.
Read the full story at The Diplomat