PREVIEW-Cheney aims to reassure U.S. allies in Asia
Source: Reuters
By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - With the U.S. mission in Iraq struggling, Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Asia this week to reassure allies Japan and Australia that a troop buildup will help quell the violence. Cheney, one of the Bush administration's staunchest war advocates, will brief Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister John Howard about the White House's decision to add 21,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. He leaves on Monday for Japan and Australia, countries that Washington views as two of its closest allies. The new Iraq strategy, announced by President George W. Bush last month, has stoked growing anti-war sentiment at home and infuriated the Democratic-led Congress. Although the Iraq war is also unpopular among the public in Japan and Australia, the topic is likely to be of keen interest to Howard and Abe for its broader security implications. Abe was elected in September to succeed Junichiro Koizumi and is committed, like his predecessor, to strong defense ties with the United States. "Japan has built its security posture around strong and confident America. Any hit to the U.S. credibility on Iraq would be a concern to Japan," said Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign affairs expert at the Brookings Institution think tank. "Abe will look for reassurances that, regardless of the difficulties in Iraq, the United States is not in a mood for retrenchment from global affairs." A senior U.S. administration official said Cheney would be adamant in warning that the "ramifications and consequences of a failure in Iraq" would be dire, in a signal that the Bush administration has no plans for a retreat. Cheney will thank Abe and Howard for their support in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and may discuss "ways that they can further assist" in the conflicts, said the U.S. official, who spoke to a group of reporters on condition of anonymity. The official declined to say whether there would be specific requests for troops or other kinds of help. CHINA, NORTH KOREA ALSO ON AGENDA During the trip, China's rising clout and the deal with North Korea calling for it to take steps toward nuclear disarmament will also be high on the agenda. Highlighting the security theme, Cheney will visit the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo and the Victoria Barracks Army base close to Sydney and make public remarks at both venues. He also plans a speech to U.S. troops in Guam. Controversies over the Iraq war have flared in Japan and Australia. Howard, who is gearing up for elections later this year, was sharply criticized by opposition leader Kevin Rudd for a comment about U.S. presidential aspirant Sen. Barack Obama. Rudd accused Howard of meddling after the prime minister said Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008 would encourage terror groups. In Tokyo, Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma caused a stir by saying the United States was wrong to invade Iraq. But Yuriko Koike, Japan's national security adviser who visited Washington last week, said "there has been absolutely no change in the policy of the Abe government toward Iraq." Japan sent troops to Iraq in 2004 to provide reconstruction and humanitarian aid in its riskiest overseas mission since World War Two. The soldiers returned home in July. Cheney does not plan to meet with Kyuma while in Tokyo but U.S. officials said that was due to a tight schedule and had nothing to do with the defense minister's comment about Iraq. But the vice president will meet in Sydney with Rudd. (Additional reporting by Paul Eckert in Washington and Linda Sieg and Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo)
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