Over at imbedded reporter Bill Roggio’s site one of his guest posters, a former intelligence analyst, has a good posting about the operational security issue that was raised last week concerning the milblogging community.  As it turns out the Pentagon and their public affairs offices are the biggest OPSEC violators of all:

The worst OPSEC violator in the senior staffs is the Pentagon. I get more advance notice from a Pentagon Press Brief of US movements from Kuwait into Iraq than I get from all other sources combined. The Pentagon acts as if it is not at war, and the leaks emanating from Arlington are enormous.

This is quite obvious just from the number of leaks from the Pentagon to newspapers like the New York Times releasing classified information.  What was interesting about the posting though was that Korean Zaytun unit in Irbil is considered to be the best unit in Iraq in regards to operational security:

1. Multinational Division-North East/Zaytun Division (Republic of Korea Army): The best in-theater OPSEC. Period. The only thing I see from their AOR is what new project or jobs training is ongoing. Unit identification of coalition/Iraqi Security Forces below Division does not get released by the Koreans. I get my data on Iraqi Security Forces in that area from US PAO releases and briefs.

He is right that reconstruction projects all you pretty much all you hear from the Zaytun unit, but there has been other bits of news released that could be of use to insurgents such as the USAID office issue, the guarding of the UN building in Irbil, and reaction to a mortar attack.  Then there are other incidents that happen with the Zaytun unit that the Korean government minimizes or even tries to cover up.  However, in the grand scheme of things this is all minor stuff compared the OPSEC issues within the US military; especially at the Pentagon, where something has to be done about the constant leaks and released media reports that are threatening the lives of soldiers more than anyone in the milblogging community.

The court martial results for the month of April are posted on the USFK website. Looking at the results you can see where most of the current trend of off post incidents are coming from:

Court-Martial Result for April 2007
At a general court-martial on 28 April 2007, Private First Class Michael E. Glassman, HHS, 1/38th FA, 210th Fires Bde, 2ID, was convicted of disobeying an order from a commissioned officer, eight specifications of wrongfully pawning military property, seven specifications of larceny of military property, and two specifications of housebreaking. His adjudged sentence was reduction to E-1, confinement for four years, and a bad conduct discharge.

Results of ROK Criminal Prosecutions
In Seoul Central District Court on 4 April 2007, Master Sergeant Adrian S. Miles , 524th MI Bn, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. His adjudged sentence was a 1.5 million Won fine.

In Daegu District Court on 5 April 2007, Sergeant First Class Jeffrey P. Nagy, CSCT #2, was found not guilty of involvement in a hit and run accident.

In Suwon District Court on 18 April 2007, Captain Derrick G. Draper, 3/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and vehicular hit and run. His adjudged sentence was 5 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Sergeant Leon A. Eldridge, 3/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Private Marcus D. Elliot, 2/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

In Seoul Central District Court on 27 April 2007, Private First Class Melvin G. Abramson, 2/2d Avn Bn, was convicted of aggravated assault. His adjudged sentence was a 3 million Won fine.

The court martial incident is referring to the Stealing for Juicy Girl case that happened at Camp Casey. Now notice all the cases tried in the ROK courts are all from non-Area 1 units in Yongsan, Taegu, Camp Humphreys, and K-16. On top of these incidents non-Area 1 personnel were also responsible for the Kunsan Taxi Cab Beat Down, along with the Taxi Cab Knifing in Waegwan. Â

Area 1’s only off post incident was the Policewoman Sexual Assault which made a lot of headlines at the time. However, I think my point is made that off post incidents in USFK is something that is well dispersed and not just an Area 1 problem; it is just when an Area 1 incident happens it is always the most memorable. Â

I really hope the election of Nicolas Sarkozy does lead to positive change in the US-French relationship:

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This is actually something I’m willing to bet goes on in Korea as well:

Takeshi Yamashita does not look like a homeless person.  From his carefully distressed jeans to his casual-cool navy striped T-shirt, he is every bit the trendy Tokyoite.

Yet the 26-year-old has been sleeping in a reclining seat in an Internet cafe every night for the past month since he lost his steady office job and his apartment.

It’s cheaper than a hotel, offers access to the Internet and hundreds of Manga comic books, and even has a microwave and a shower where he can wash in the morning before heading off to one of his temporary jobs ranging from cleaning to basic office work.

Asked how long he plans to go on living like that, Yamashita smiles and shrugs.

There is plenty of times I have seen people crashed out in internet cafes late at night in Korea and I have to admit I did it once myself, however I can’t imagine actually living in one. 

I really hope the election of Nicolas Sarkozy does lead to positive change in the US-French relationship: 

The victory of Nicholas Sarkozy of the right-leaning Union for a Popular Movement may be a sign that French society is moving to the right. Observers note the country’s economic stagnation, with a yearly growth rate is 2 percent and has had 8 percent unemployment for 20 years, is the reason. Sarkozy ran his campaign promising changes towards a market-oriented economy, including a more flexible labor market, tax cuts, and a reorganization of the 35 hour work week. His opponent, Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal, defended welfare and the 35 hour week, but she was still more pro-business than traditional leftist candidates. Even within the Socialist Party many saw economic growth as the biggest issue. This time around France’s independent foreign policy, which likes to stress that it is different from that of the United States, was not a point of contention.

Here are some more economic numbers that were a big reason for his election:

Among European nations, France was the most tenacious in hanging on to the old-style welfare state model. As a result, its gross national income slid to 19th place from eighth in 1982, while contracting the so-called “French disease” manifested by a youth unemployment rate of more than 22 percent. Government expenditures, which accounted for 54 percent of gross domestic product, damaged private sector competitiveness and pulled down France’s share of the global export market from 5.4 percent in 1999 to 4.3 percent in 2005.

Pretty grim numbers.  Here is what he had to say about the US, via Big Hominid:

"Certain people in France call me Sarkozy the American. I’m proud of this. I am a man of action; I do what I say and I try to be pragmatic. I share many American values." In 2004, during a lunch with the American Jewish Committee, the minister speaks out against those who attack him for being an Americanophile. There is a great deal of sincerity in the admiration Nicolas Sarkozy has for the United States. He believes that, across the Atlantic, everyone has an opportunity, regardless of "their name or their face," as he said one day. He then cited the examples of Arnold Schwarzenegger, elected governor of California, and Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State under George Bush, who is of Jamaican heritage.*

You can read more about Sarkozy via the Big Hominid here as well.

Is it just me or did these guys get off really light:

A U.S. soldier was sentenced Tuesday to eight months in prison for assaulting a South Korean taxi driver without any specific reason, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"The accused people were sentenced to jail term because they assaulted the victim without any specific reason and caused serious damage," Judge Han Yang-seok of the Seoul Central District Court said.

The judge, however, suspended the jail term for the soldier, identified only by the initial of his surname B, for two years, saying he had compensated the driver and that the U.S. military demoted the soldier and cut his pay.

The private first class belongs to the honor guard unit of the Eighth U.S. Army.

A U.S. army private who was also involved in the assault was ordered to pay a fine of 2 million won ($2,164).

No jail terms for these two and really their fines aren’t all that steep either considering the brutal attack they launched on the cab driver in an Itaewon bathroom last year for no reason. 

North Korea is still trying to find a bank to accept their ill gotten money and they have now suggested that the US launder the money for them:

North Korea has demanded the United States allow it to open an account at a bank in New York and its funds at a Macau bank be transferred there, a Japanese daily reported in Sunday.

Of course the Korean media agrees with this, from the Chosun:

The reason why the South Korean government seeks to place this awkward burden on KEXIM is because North Korea is putting off fulfilling its six-party talks promise until the BDA problem is resolved. But it’s the U.S. government that first raised the BDA problem, so the U.S. government should take steps to resolve it.

North Korea probably isn’t happy about getting KEXIM involved in this picture. North Korea doesn’t want a single transaction, but a permanent right to transfer funds freely. All banks around the world must go through a depository bank in New York when it comes to dollar transfers. And the U.S. Treasury Department regulates this process. If that’s the case, then it would only be proper for the U.S. government to handle the matter transparently through an American bank, rather than trying to dump that responsibility on an unwilling country and an unwilling bank.

So according to the Chosun Ilbo it is the US government’s fault for enforcing our counterfeiting laws against the North Koreans and the US should take one for the team and have a US bank launder North Korea’s ill gotten money.  How about South Korea take one for the team and launder the money and ruin their bank’s credit rating instead? 

Read more over at One Free Korea.

Just when you thought you had seen it all in regards to taxi cab related incidents you find out you in fact haven’t. From the Stars and Stripes:

A nude U.S. soldier was struck and killed by an off-base taxi Saturday night, officials said Monday.

U.S. and South Korean officials are investigating the incident in which Spc. Vang B. Her, a 22-year-old fire control repairman with Company B, 302nd Brigade Support Battalion, was killed around 10:30 p.m. near Mount Soyo, about 3 miles north of Camp Casey.

The 46-year-old taxi driver is being held in South Korean police custody because he waited about 30 minutes before reporting the incident, Yangju police said Monday.

Police said the driver reported that a naked soldier dashed in front of his taxi and that he was unable to stop before hitting him.

Witnesses, however, gave conflicting reports that Her was lying in the roadway when hit, according to police.

This is really weird because the area around Mt. Soyo has no clubs or drinking establishments that would attract a GI. The only thing around Mt. Soyo are a few hotels and stores for tourists going to visit the mountain. Possibly he was riding on the subway and fell asleep and woke up at the last stop which is the Soyo Mountain station. He would need to cross the street from the station to get on the sidewalk that would lead south back to Camp Casey.

The only way I see the cab driver getting in trouble is if he was speeding which on that portion of Highway 3. Cab drivers and other vehicles are notorious for speeding and running red lights in that part of town because of the light traffic at night due to it not being a night life area. So you may have a case (if he was drinking) of a drunk soldier walking across the street being hit by a speeding taxi cab running a red light. How the heck he got naked though is anyone guess. Whatever happened it is definitely very weird and hopefully the toxicology results and a full investigation will uncover what happened.

In response to this USFK Commander General B.B. Bell issued this Bells Sends message in regards to this accident. General Bell emphasizes the battle buddy policy and the dangers of over alcohol consumption. However, I know the General means well, but do you have to include in the message reminders to look both ways and check for traffic before crossing the road to a bunch of grown adults? Anyway, no matter what happened the loss of life of a soldier is always tragic and I wish this deceased soldier’s family all the best.

You can read more over at Lost Nomad.

From the Joong Ang Ilbo:

Two American soldiers were arrested yesterday on charges of beating and attempting to rape a female police officer in downtown Seoul last month, prosecutors said. The soldiers, identified only as a 23-year-old sergeant and a 21-year-old private first class from a U.S. base north of Seoul, are accused of attempting to sexually assault a plainclothes officer in an office bathroom in Seoul on April 5.

The suspects were caught when a janitor heard a scream and alerted police, officials at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office said. Earlier on the day of the assault, the two men were interrogated at a nearby police station for the alleged sexual harassment of another local woman, police said. The soldiers were released after the woman told police she did not want to punish them. The sergeant confessed to the charges, but the private denied them, the officials said.

What I find weird about this case is that it has been over a month since the incident and the police are just now bringing charges against them? Usually the charges get filed against US soldiers much more quickly, especially in a high profile case like this. 

This article from the Joong Ang Ilbo about the possible sale of the F-22 fighter plane to Japan I found quite interesting:

When reports surfaced last month that Japan is trying to purchase the new F-22 Raptor, the most advanced U.S. fighter plane, the news had a ripple effect in the region.
Despite Korea’s drive to modernize its air force, the ultra-modern plane could alter the balance of air power and spark a drive by South Korea and China to catch up.
The Raptor, which is so far banned from export, is felt to be so far superior to anything else in the air that Japan would gain an immediate regional edge if it flies the plane. “Whatever is out there cannot match up with it,” retired Air Force general Keum Ki-hyun said of the F-22. “It’s like elementary school kids trying to win a fight against college students.”

Well that is only fitting because the South Korean government has been acting "like elementary school kids".  Where the heck has the ROK government been for the last five years, to busy drinking sunshine Kool-Aid?  While the South Korean government has been busy undermining the US-ROK alliance at every turn and using anti-Americanism for short term domestic political gain for the past five years, the Japanese government has been busy building stronger political and defense relations with the US.  The elementary school kid credentials of the ROK government is further apparent by their concerns that the possible purchase of the F-22 by Japan is some kind of sign of an impending attack on Dokdo. Is it any wonder why the F-22 is being sold to Japan and not to South Korea?