Cobra Gold strengthens relationships between U.S., Thai forces
By Fred Knapp, Stars and
Stripes
Bangkok, Thailand — They fought simulated enemies, staged
amphibious assaults and evacuated threatened civilians.
Now, they’re going home.
Nearly 5,000 U.S. servicemembers were headed out of Thailand on
Tuesday as this year’s Cobra Gold exercise came to a close.
While the troops trained for real-life situations, building
relationships may have been the most important aspect of the nearly monthlong exercise,
said Lt. Gen. Thomas Hill, deputy commander of the Combined Joint Task Force running the
U.S.-Thai exercise.
“We gain a professional relationship with people of another army
and another culture that could be of use in the future,” said Hill, who is assigned
to I Corps, Fort Lewis, Wash. This is the fourth year that Hill has participated in Cobra
Gold. This year, the training moved from a pure “defense of Thailand” scenario
to a U.N. “peace enforcement” action.
“The most realistic scenario that anyone can imagine us doing
together is a peace enforcement-type or humanitarian relief-type operation,” Hill
said.
The United States and Thailand have participated in similar
operations in East Timor.
Surachai Sirikrai, political science professor at Bangkok’s
Thammasat University, said each possible U.S.-Thai military operation will have to be
reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Thailand’s participation in Cobra Gold indicates that “we
still view America as a stabilizing force within the region,” Surachai said.
“But we are not going to ally with America as an enemy of any
country in the region, especially China,” with whom Thailand has no conflict,
Surachai added.
He specifically mentioned possible U.S.-China conflicts over Taiwan
and Tibet, as well as any actions against Burmese drug figures, as actions Thailand would
not support.
Surachai said there has been friction between the two countries in
the past, including previous U.S. policies that limited Thai agricultural exports, as well
as a lack of aid during Thailand’s 1997 financial crisis.
“You don’t have any permanent friends, you have permanent
interests. That’s American culture,” he said. In Asian culture, “once you
have friends, you have friends for life.”
Hill would not discuss possible future scenarios, but did say the
Thai military does have a history of supporting U.S. efforts in the region. More than 600
Thai soldiers were killed while fighting alongside U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, he
noted.
Hill also deflected any suggestion that U.S.-Thai cooperation might
be directed against China.
“I think there are situations in the Pacific where a regional
approach to solving that situation might be of great value to everybody in the
region,” he said. “Cobra Gold, however, has nothing to do with that. It
can’t be tied to any particular situation.”
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