ROK Army Contingent in Iraq Recognized by US Military

The US military is giving props to the ROK Army contingent in Iraq:

The U.S. military in Iraq plans to model its reconstruction efforts on the humanitarian and rehabilitation work being undertaken by South Korean troops in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, South Korea’s top commander said on Sunday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last week directed his generals in Iraq to seek ways to conduct a “Zaytun-like operation,” particularly the Korean troops’ vocational training program for local residents, Maj. Gen. Jung Seung-jo, commander of the Zaytun Division, said during a meeting with reporters.

“The U.S. military now has a keen interest in our civic affairs operations focusing on `leading a horse to water,’ not `making it drink’,” Gen. Jung said.

“U.S. military leaders agree that kind of mission concept is what they need to take in the future,” he said.

I would like to see General Jung try his theory of leading a horse to water and not making it drink, in hot spots such as Anbar province where people seen getting the vocational training would be beheaded or killed. The Zaytun unit is in the peaceful Kurdish region of Iraq where the ROK Army has no security responsibilities and can focus exclusively on medical and vocational programs.

This is not the case for the US military. In the article the US military said they would establish the vocational programs beginning in Mosul and Kirkuk. I suspect because those two cities have large Kurdish populations that help keep the cities now more peaceful than other areas of Iraq these programs may be successful. I seriously doubt the ROK Army’s program would be very successful if it was tried in a city like Ramadi. However, as the ROK Army has proven it is a good program to implement once the security situation in a city has improved.