Let up in Europe, build up in Asia, US is advised

The United States should withdraw most of its ground troops from Western Europe and rebuild its naval forces to meet threats to oil-producing areas of Southwest Asia, a study by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis reports.

The study, released Wednesday, said a landmark shift in strategy was needed because of the ''disintegration'' of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO's failure to contribute more to Western Europe's defense in the face of a growing Soviet weapons buildup, and the growing threat to US security interests in the Mideast.