Category: Uncategorized

South Korea may cut troop levels in Iraq:

South Korea may reduce its troop numbers in Iraq by one third from November.

South Korea currently has 3,200 troops in Iraq.

The cuts are proposed due to public opinion about the war. I have been against any troop deployment in Iraq for soldiers doing nothing except appeasing the US and bargaining for reconstruction contracts. Currently Korea has 3,200 soldiers on an airfield in Iraq doing nothing, so what is the difference if you have over 2,000 soldiers stuck on an airfield doing nothing?

The ROK Army will begin making cuts to reduce troop strength by 25% by 2020:

Korea’s military is to become a leaner, fitter fighting machine in the next 15 years. By 2020, the Army’s 13 corps could be reduced to six, its 47 division cut by about 20, and total troop strength reduced from 680,000 to about 500,000. Korea’s reserve force would be reduced from 3.04 million to 1.5 million. The forces could put more emphasis on volunteers for special forces while paying salaries to soldiers who wish to stay on once they have completed their mandatory military service.

IMHO this cut in forces is more related to the current reality that mandatory service is not a viable long term strategy to fielding a lethal ROK Army. Within the next 15 years the American presence if their is any at all in Korea will be very minimal and all these anti-USFK groups will need to find a new boogy man to protest and that will be the ROK Army.

The current affluent youth compared to their parents are not happy with the mandatory service system because it interfers with their lives and they have been brought up to believe North Korea is not a threat thus why do they need to serve? The withdrawal of US forces only reinforces this because notion because then they will think that not even the Americans think the North Koreans are a threat anymore. I think it is safe to say that within 15 years Korea may need to convert to an all volunteer force. To do that, however, requires a cut in forces to pay for an upgrade in pay, benefits, and living facilities. This does not even take into account the amount of increased military technology Korea will need to pay in order to replace the loss of USFK forces on the peninsula. These cuts may the beginning movements towards an all volunteer force.

It didn’t take long for the global warming crowd to jump on the Hurricane Katrina band wagon:

First the deafening roar of Katrina bearing down at 145 miles per hour on the gulf coast of the United States. Now the eerie silence, as victims wash ashore and out to sea. And in the aftermath, it seems that all of official Washington is holding its breath, less the dirty little secret gets out: that Katrina is the entropy bill for increasing CO2 emissions and global warming.

I figured people would use this tragedy to blame President Bush for global warming, but I just didn’t think it would happen this fast. You would think they would at least wait until all the dead has been recovered before the blame game would start being played.

The arguement for global warming causing the hurricane rings hollow to me. There have always been powerful hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. You can look throughout recorded history and see that it is not uncommon for cities to be leveled by hurricanes in the gulf. Galveston, Texas got leveled twice. New Orleans has just been lucky over the years and has now been hit by a powerful hurricane. Their luck ran out.

Something else that bothers me, is that if this hurricane hit Mexico and killed a bunch of people there, nobody would care. When hurricane Mitch hit Central America killing thousands no one brought up global warming then. Now that Americans have been killed the global warming people are jumping all over it because they see this as an opportunity to push their agenda. Studying global warming is an industry and by sparking people’s fears by exploiting this hurricane the global warming crowd keeps themselves in business and secure funding.

I’m all for cutting back on fossil fuels and using alternative energy but it is not because of global warming. We need to cut back on oil for our own national security. Our addiction to oil, funds to many corrupt regimes that finance international terrorists. By decreasing our dependence on oil we not only help the environment but we also take money out of the hands of terrorists. If countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran have less money to prop up their economies they will have no choice but to liberalize their economies to continue economic growth. That would mean a more open society and less funding for terrorists.

It makes more sense to persuade people to use less oil by using the national security issue. Americans at heart are patriots and are likely to begin to use less oil if leadership from the top down pushes it, instead of proclaiming the sky is falling all the time. I’ve heard the sky is falling one to many times now, and I have quit listening.

I have figured that with the US facing probably it’s worst natural disaster ever that we as a country would find out who our real friends are. Korea has stepped up and offered immediate aid assistance:

Korea on Sunday shamed critics by deciding to send US$30 million in aid including private donations to help in the rebuilding of areas in the U.S. South devastated by Hurricane Katrina. It will also dispatch a 50-man rescue team to the area together with emergency relief supplies under a team headed by Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-shik, who has been tentatively named Korean ambassador to Washington.

Thank you Korea, and your rescue team I can assure you will have a lot of fun dealing with General Honore. Here is a list of other countries providing donations:

Korea’s contribution is reportedly the largest aid offer behind Qatar’s $100 million pledge. In Asia, China and India have pledged $5 million each, Japan $500,000, and Australia $10 million. The government will meet with the nation’s business groups and religious leaders to discuss the exact size of the government and civilian aid package on Monday. Deployment of military forces was not on the agenda since there has been no request from the U.S. If there is, the government will discuss the matter with the National Assembly, he said.

I find it a little surprising that China has offered $5 million and Japan only $500,000. Qatar’s offer of $100 million dollars is really impressive for such a small country though they are wealthy. The Chosun article also brings up what will be the coming political battle once the rescue operations are complete:

There was a widespread sense that the city’s African Americans were left stranded for five days while the city was allowed to descend into anarchy because authorities concentrated on rescuing and protecting more affluent Caucasians. The Rev. Yun Jeong-su (48), who spent four days on the second floor of his church in downtown New Orleans, said, “The rescue operations concentrated on the west side, where white people are concentrated. There was also a lot of police deployed and almost no looting. On the other hand, in the black neighborhood in the southeast, there was almost no police seen, and only black people could be seen wandering the streets.” It was not clear whether the U.S. government intentionally discriminated against the African American community, but New Orleans is transforming into a powder keg that could ignite deeply rooted racial tensions in U.S. society.

I don’t know much about New Orleans or the racial make up of the city but I’m assuming the police were doing the best job possible under these difficult circumstances. Don’t always believe what the MSM puts out. They grossly exaggerate and distort to cause controversy because that creates higher ratings. Plus certain organizations are going to use this to blame the government for being racist for their own political agendas.

That is why I felt it was smart that the police did not shoot the looters, even though the governor was pushing it, because it would come back to haunt them as being racially motivated. The National Guard as well needs to be smart about using force on people because they are under the microscope as well and any shooting of a civilian will be used by certain groups to spark anger and outrage against the government. There is enough anger and outrage already. We as a country don’t need any more.

LTG Honore undoubtedly cussing someone out.

The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin has some complimentary things to say about LTG Honore:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls Lt. Gen. Russel Honore a “John Wayne dude” who can “get some stuff done.”

“He came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving,” Nagin said in an interview Thursday night with a local radio station.

Mayor Nagin is not kidding about the cussing. LTG Honore the former 2ID commander was well known here in Korea for his cussing and tirades. He can cuss and swear with the best of them. I got plenty of good LTG Honore stories from his time in Korea.

However, for a situation that is begging for someone to be in charge since no one within the city, state, or national governments are showing any leadership in organizing a disaster relief plan; LTG Honore is the right man for this job. When he was here in Korea there was never any doubt who was in charge. His cussing and tantrums do not endear him to many people, but he does get results and right now immediate results in evacuating and aiding people is what is needed most.

Check out the CNN interview with LTG Honore that is on the sidebar of this link. LTG Honore is from Louisiana and the media is already picking up on his long time Army nickname of the Ragin Cajun. The media has also picked up on the fact that his daughter actually lives in New Orleans but he has not found her yet. The media seems to really like LTG Honore because he fits the persona of the cigar chomping bigger than life general. Plus he has a personal connection to this tragedy that makes for great TV.

However, what is most imporatant so far, is that this bigger than life general seems to be making things happen now.

I tend to agree with the Asiapundit, that the the next Seoul CIA station chief must be a hottie because female Korean spies are always hot in the movies:

It was learned Wednesday that a Korean-American woman, identified by her family name of Han, has taken over as the new station chief of the US Central Intelligence Agency in Seoul. This is the first time a Korean, and a Korean women in particular has assumed duties as head of the CIA station in Korea. Officially, there is no organization going by the “CIA Korea station.” Instead, the Office of Regional Study inside the US Embassy plays the role of CIA station here in Korea.

I have to agree with the Japundit and wonder what the heck was this all about? What a way to start my morning.

The Marmot is all over the development that Uijongbu city police have decided to wave SOFA jurisdiction over two of three soldiers involved in a drunken fight that ended with one soldier seriously injuring a Korean national by hitting him over the head with a beer bottle.

Here is what the Marmot thinks on this:

Korea had primary jurisdiction over the case, given how the incident occurred when the soldiers in question were off-duty. Just because USFK asked them to give up jurisdiction didn’t mean they had to comply. USFK had primary jurisdiction over the Dongducheon incident, since it occurred when the soldier was on-duty. Did USFK consider giving up jurisdiction when the Koreans asked them to? Maybe. Did they give it up in the end? No. So there was no reason for the Korean prosecutors to give up their right to stand the two suspects before a Korean court, unless, of course, they thought trying them would be more trouble that it’s worth, in which case they need to get a bigger set of balls. The point is, these guys took part in the maiming of a Korean national during an off-duty incident, and the prosecutors owe it to the victim and the taxpayers who pay their salaries to do everything in their power to ensure justice is served on their terms. And the fact that they waived jurisdiction should in no way be read as a victory for USFK, because ultimately, it’s going to be USFK that gets blamed for the fecklessness of the Korean prosecutors who apparently have other things to do than try individuals that smash beer bottles in the faces of the people they supposedly serve.

The fact that the two were released to the US military is not uncommon. Very often I have seen myself small crimes such as petty theft, shop lifting, urinating on a building, drunken fights, etc. handed over to the US military. In this case maybe the two soldiers released were just walking down the street with the third soldier when he got in the argument with the Korean national and hit him with the beer bottle. Maybe they had no part in the attack, just wrong place at the wrong time? Right now we don’t know the extent of the involvement in the incident of the two soldiers who were released. Let’s not condemn these two soldiers when they may have not been complacent in the attack. Obviously the Uijongbu police felt that the two must not have had much involvement in the incident because it wasn’t worth their time to try them on anything.

The actual assaulter they are going to try and hopefully this idiot gets punished to the fullest extent of the Korean judicial system. I do agree with the Marmot however that the anti-USFK groups will jump on this to spread the image of “big bully USFK” pushing around the “little helpless Koreans” to further advance their own agendas.

Make sure to check out the comments discussion at the Marmot’s Hole. Some good discussion going on about the whole SOFA topic.

I can remember when the US military disposed of Saddam’s Army in Baghdad and the mass looting of the city commenced. I didn’t know it at the time, because I was there in the middle of the chaos that the media was bashing the military for not stopping the looting of the city. At that time the looting was pretty bad, but not as bad as the media made it out to be and I remember thinking, do people expect us to arrest and shoot people in the middle of a war for loading up a sofa in the back of their truck?

Watching TV today I couldn’t help but think how did people expect us to stop looting in Baghdad when we can’t even stop looting in New Orleans? So it is with a sense of irony that I watch the same media that was bashing the Army during the war is now bashing the New Orleans police department and Louisiana National Guard for not stopping the looters.

I tend to look at this realistically. The New Orleans policemen all had homes and families to were wiped out by the hurricane. Do you think the police is going to tell their families to sit on top of their house’s roof while they go off and stop people from stealing TVs. Plus the police had few vehicles to use to patrol with because their police cars were under water just like everyone elses. It is the same story with the National Guard. The guard is composed of the same community swamped by the hurricane.

It is going to take time to get the police and National Guard organized in this situation. Nobody has a perfect plan to deal with something like this and the media tends to blow every rumor way out of proportion and treat them as fact. They did the same thing in Baghdad. Yes, there was looting going on but it wasn’t as bad as the media made it out to be. I foresee the same thing in New Orleans. So please give the authorities in Louisiana the benefit of the doubt because I am sure they are trying their best to preserve order and save lives.

What I find most interesting about this is that when social controls are removed from a society, people begin to react to their most basic instincts of survival of the fittest. We saw it in Baghdad and now you have seen it in New Orleans. What I wonder is what would happen if Seoul had a catastrophic natural disaster similar to New Orleans? What would the people’s reaction be? Would they begin looting? Would gangs begin to rove and car jack people? Would rapes occur? Does anybody think that Koreans would not also act similar if all social controls were removed? If not what do you think makes Koreans different?

Recently a book titled War Trash has been released that documents the experiences of Chinese POWs held by the US military during the Korean War.

Here are some excerpts of the book from Far Outliers:

The audience remained silent for a good minute after he finished speaking. I knew the medic and didn’t think he had made up the story. Wang Yong broke the silence: “The Reds used us like ammo. Look at the GIs, they all wear flak vests on the battleground. The U.S. government cares about their lives. How about us? How many of our brothers could’ve survived if they’d put on the vests like the GIs? Recently I came across an article. It reports that General Ridgway says the U.S. forces could absolutely push the Communist armies all the way back to the Yalu, but he won’t do that because he doesn’t want to sacrifice thousands of his men. Just imagine: what if the People’s Volunteer Army could drive the Americans down to the Pacific Ocean? Wouldn’t Mao Zedong sacrifice every one of the Volunteers to accomplish that goal? You bet he would. Didn’t he already send us here to be wasted like manure to fertilize Korean soil?…

Yes, Mao would of killed as many people as needed to accomplish his twisted goals. After the war, The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution killed far more Chinese than 3 years of fighting in the Korean War.

Wang’s analogy of us to human fertilizer revived thoughts I had been thinking for a long time. True enough, as Chinese, we genuinely felt that our lives were misused here, but as I have observed earlier, no matter how abysmal our situation was there were always others who had it worse. By now I understood why occasionally some Korean civilians were hostile to us. To them we had come here only to protect China’s interests–by so doing, we couldn’t help but ruin their homes, fields, and livelihoods. From their standpoint, if the Chinese army hadn’t crossed the Yalu, millions of lives, both civilian and military, would have been saved. Of course, the United States would then have occupied all of Korea, forcing China to build defenses in Manchuria, which would have been much more costly than sending troops to fight in our neighboring country. As it was, the Koreans had taken the brunt of the destruction of this war, whereas we Chinese were here mainly to keep its flames away from our border. Or, as most of the POWs believed, perhaps rightly, we had served as cannon fodder for the Russians. It was true that the Koreans had started the war themselves, but a small country like theirs could only end up being a battleground for bigger powers. Whoever won this war, Korea would be the loser.

The Chinese were to an extent cannon fodder for the Russians, but Mao Zedong was eager from the start to jump into this war but Kim Il Sung wouldn’t let him due to concerns about the Chinese wanting to subjugate Korea like the Chinese have in the past. Kim Il Sung only invited Chinese troops into the war once it was clear he had no chance of winning. If China had joined the war earlier the Pusan Perimeter would have never held and Korea would be a very different place today.

I also realized why some Koreans, especially those living south of the Thirty-eighth Parallel, seemed to prefer the American army to us. Not having enough food supplies or money, we had to press them for rice, sweet potatoes, any edibles, and sometimes we stole dried fish and chilies from under their eaves, grabbed crops from their fields and orchards, and even dug out their grain seeds to eat. By contrast, the Americans had everything they needed and didn’t go to the civilians for necessities. Whenever the U.S. troops decamped, the local folks would rush to the site to pick up stuff discarded by them, such as telephone wires, shell boxes, cartridge cases, half-eaten bread, cans, soggy cigarettes, ruptured tires, used batteries. We thought we had come all the way to help the Koreans, but some of us had willy-nilly ended up their despoilers.

If you ask some Koreans now a days, the US GI’s during the war only rounded up civilians and shot them underneath bridges. I will need to get this book soon and read it. I haven’t read a book yet on the Korean War from a Chinese soldiers perspective. So it should be interesting reading.