ROK Army Debates Sending Surveyors to Lebanon

UPDATE:  The Chosun has an article today about US Assistant Secretary of State Christoperh Hill saying that President Roh briefed President Bush that Korea would send troops to
Lebanon:

President Roh Moo-hyun told U.S. President George W. Bush that Korea is willing to take part in multilateral peacekeeping operations in Lebanon, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said Wednesday, prompting hot denials from
Cheong Wa Dae. In a speech on the second day of “Korea and the United States 2006,” a security conference jointly sponsored by the Chosun Ilbo and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Hill said Roh agreed in the bilateral summit on Sept. 14 to pitch in, adding Korea will dispatch a fact-finding team to the battered nation. Roh told Bush Korea would first dispatch observers to investigate the situation on the ground, and the U.S. president welcomed the idea, according to Hill.

 None the less the debate over what troops to send to
Lebanon continues:

Nonetheless, the government is said to be mulling whether to send an infantry or engineer battalion to join the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, and will determine the size of the contingent after the fact-finding team to be dispatched next month completes its work there. “The government thinks it is reasonable to send one infantry or engineer battalion to
Lebanon, and no more,” a government source said, depending on what the team reports back. If the government decides to send an infantry contingent, who could take part in actual fighting, it may ignite a debate about their safety much like the one that greeted Seoul’s decision to send troops to
Iraq.

I bring it up again, who is going to disarm Hezbollah exactly? 

Here is a chance for Korea to show their relevance in the world, but much like the United Nations itself that any Korean force would be part of, I suspect that the Korean government will much prefer irrelevance than actually displaying the moral courage to do the right thing for the people of Lebanon by sending combat troops to disarm Hezbollah.  If a government does not have the political will to take casualties than do not send your forces to a war zone.  

 What will be most interesting will be once a flair up happens again between Hezbollah and Israel, which it will if Hezbollah is not disarmed, these same countries sending token, face saving forces to Lebanon will be the first ones to condemn Israel for defending themselves. 

Original Posting: Like the Iraq mission for the ROK Army, if the Korean government is not willing to be a relevant force on the ground than don’t send your soldiers to a war zone:

 South Korea is planning to send a survey team to Lebanon next month before deciding whether to contribute troops to U.N. peacekeeping forces to be stationed there, a government official said Thursday.

“There was a U.N. request for us to dispatch troops to
Lebanon,” the official told Yonhap News Agency by telephone. “We basically abide by our principle of joining the United Nations peacekeeping operations.”
South Korea is currently discussing with Lebanon when to send the survey team, the official said, asking that he not be identified.

With everyone willing to contribute surveyors, logisticians, engineers, naval support, communications specialists, port operators, etc., it just makes me wonder who is going to disarm Hezbollah as the UN Resolution that ended the war between Hezbollah and
Israel stated?  Korean surveyors and Bangaladeshi fork lift drivers?  I don’t think so.   Once again the United Nations is showing itself to be irrelevant in stopping world conflicts.  Does anyone doubt that in the future Hezbollah will again spark violence against
Israel if they are not disarmed?  Hezbollah will continue to spark violence as long as Korean surveyors are sent to disarm them.