U.S. direction in Asia hinges on Iraq: advisers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Experts who advise presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama on East Asia say U.S. policy there hinges on resolution of the Iraq crisis, but disagree on how to go about that.

Obama adviser Matthew Goodman said there was a "strategic drift" in U.S. Asia policy as the Bush administration focused on the Middle East, especially the Iraq war, distracting attention from key alliances with Japan and Korea, and management of the rise of China on the global stage.

"The new president is going to have to demonstrate both in words and actions that he recognizes there is no more important part of the world than the Asia Pacific (region)," Goodman said at a seminar on "U.S.-East Asia Policy under the Next President" in New York on Wednesday.

Goodman, a former treasury official and Japan expert who said he advises the Democrat but is not a spokesman for his campaign, said withdrawing troops from Iraq and taking other steps to boost America's international standing was essential.

Michael Green, a former aide to U.S President George W. Bush who is now advising Republican hopeful McCain on Asia, said one of the biggest differences between the candidates was Iraq, where McCain says he will stay as long as necessary and Obama has pledged to start withdrawing troops.

Green said at the Japan Society seminar that a hasty withdrawal could create a vacuum in Iraq, drawing in Iran and spreading economic turmoil in Asia, as well as damaging U.S. credibility with its allies in Asia.

Goodman said ending the war in Iraq would help free up resources for a more proactive policy in Asia, which he said accounted for around half of global trade and global gross domestic product

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Trade is another issue that divides the two candidates.

McCain favors and Obama opposes a trade deal negotiated by the Bush administration with Korea that has yet to be passed by lawmakers from both countries, and which has been mired in a dispute over ending a ban on U.S. beef imports to Korea.

Goodman said Obama's opposition was based on real concerns about whether the agreement would provide effective market access for U.S. manufacturers and farmers, but that did not mean he was against free trade in principle.

"He's not a protectionist," Goodman said, adding that Obama was also firmly committed to the U.S.-Korean alliance.

Asked if a broader Pacific free trade agreement was possible under the next administration, Green said the Korea agreement was a vital building block towards such pacts.

Goodman said promoting more trade in Asia and with the United States was a good objective "and something I'm sure that Sen. Obama will be actively interested in pursuing ... How you do that, which mechanisms you use, is another matter."

Both advisers said on many issues the candidates policies were similar, for example on Myanmar, strengthening alliances with Japan and Korea, engaging with China and using diplomacy to stop North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons.

(Editing by Michelle Nichols and Anthony Boadle)