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.

The Suwon Fortress also known as the Hwaseong Fortress is a must see tourist site for anyone visiting Korea. The impressive fortress walls surround the entire old city of Suwon and are registered UNESCO World Heritage site. The fortress is not only impressive to look at but also features an interesting history.

The idea to build the fortress was first conceived by the Korea’s King Jeongjo (1776-1800). This period of Korean history featured much intrigue within the ruling yangban class which ultimately caused King Jeongjo’s father to be murdered. King Jeongjo felt that creating a new, well fortified capitol would strengthen the monarchy and dillute the power of the yangban class. He chose the city of Suwon just south of Seoul to be his new capitol. He moved the tomb of his father to Suwon and began construction of his great fortress in 1794.

The fortress was designed by Jeong Yakyong (1762-1836) who was known nationally as one of Korea’s greatest scholars. He envisioned a fortress that balanced the needs of commerce, the welfare of the people, and military defense. The work force he employed to build the fortress was quite extensive. 642 masons, 335 carpenters, 295 plasterers and 11,820 painters and tilers were used. In total an average of 70,000 laborers were used to work on the fortress every year until completion. Jeong also did something that was unusual for this period, he actually payed his workers for their work instead of conscripting forced laborers to build the fortress.

When construction was completed, the walls averaged a height of nine meters and featured many watch towers, cannons, secret gates, and other fortifications. The total length of the walls is 5 kilometers long. The fortress was the first construction project in Korea to use advanced technology such as cranes to move dirt and blocks into place. It took a total of over 2 years to build the fortress.

Over the years more improvements were made to the fortress but even these great walls couldn’t save Korea from the bickering and ineffective leadership of the yangban class that would ultimately lead to the annexation of Korea by Japan nearly a hundred years later. Due to the aftermath of the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, the walls were heavily damaged. In the 1970’s the Korean government decided to restore the walls to their past glory.

The outer wall that sticks out like a claw around the main entrance gate allows defenders to attack anyone trying to breach the gate from their rear.

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.

Lieutenant General Russel Honore’ who is the current commander of 1st Army which commands the US Army Reserve and National Guard is now directing the military response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Interestingly enough General Honore’ used to be the division commander for the US 2nd Infantry Division located here in Korea from 2000 – 2002.

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore was directing the deployment of National Guard troops — expected to number 1,000 — from a New Orleans street corner.

Honore said getting food and water to the people at the convention center was a difficult process. “If you ever have 20,000 people come to supper, you know what I’m talking about,” the general said. “If it was easy, it would have been done already.”

CNN’s Barbara Starr, who is traveling with the three-star general, said Honore is “very determined to keep this looking like a humanitarian relief operation.”

“A few moments ago, he stopped a truck full of National Guard troops … and said, ‘Point your weapons down, this is not Iraq,'” Starr reported.

During his time here in the 2ID General Honore’ was known as the Ragin Cajun because he was the type that would explode and expect immediate results. He is also from Louisiana and speaks with a Cajun accent that makes him sometimes hard to understand when he is rajin. His strong personality and Cajun roots make him the perfect person to lead this effort. I would expect results from the National Guard effort very soon now.

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.