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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Shock waves in Seoul as U.S. to shift 12,000 more troops to Iraq |
| 2004-06-03 |
| Via Bros. Judd: EFL. SUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Time to go out into the world, kids. Your First the Pentagon told the ministry of national defense it plans to transfer a brigade of 3,600 troops from South Korea to Iraq this summer. Now, the Pentagon is telling South Korean officials it wants to scale back the number of U.S. troops in South Korea from 37,000 to 25,000. The news took the government here by surprise. A Blue House official, talking anonymously to South Korean reporters, barely masked the governmentâs concern: "The realignment should not undermine our national security." So sorry, but weâve got our own national security to think about. In and out of the government, the realization has now dawned that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had been deadly serious when he spread the word during his visit here last November that the U.S. had a new concept of flexible defense. $(%$%& A politician who actually means what he says! How, How, AMERICAN. Kim Sung-Han, research professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, reflected the misgivings of the government when he remarked that the need for reinforcements in Iraq meant, "Talks on a reduction of troops have come earlier than expected." Jesus H. Christ, are we supposed to stay for ANOTHER 50 years? I still think itâs no coincidence that our unfinished business - externally Iraq and SK, internally Viet Nam is biting us in the ass at the same time, sort of like the Bermuda Triangle is on our posterior. Time to remove a corner. Hereâs an interesting blog I read on occasion. |
| Posted by:Anonymous2U |
| #21 ROFL, snellenr! You're the winner of this thread. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-06-03 5:14:35 PM |
| #20 Verlaine,I would point out that carrier aviation is short-ranged and while S.Korea prob.wouldn't allow strike missions from Korea,she would allow aerial-refueling and Awacs missions,which would be priceless.But,I would not like US servicemen to be stationed anywhere they are not welcome,or at least tolerated. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-06-03 5:12:15 PM |
| #19 Stephen, while I understand what you're saying, I would in a half-jocular, half-serious vein respond "Okinawa," "Japan," "Nimitz-class," and (B-2) "Oklahoma." In any case, seems to me we should reduce our presence to airpower, anyway, while SK shoulders the rest of the burden. Long over-due. More to your point, I find it hard to imagine the circumstances under which SK would enable a US operation against China, in defense of Taiwan or whatever. Meanwhile, I second the kudos so snellenr -- hilarious! |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2004-06-03 4:11:29 PM |
| #18 As pleasant as it might be to totally withdraw from Korea,I have to admit part of me likes the idea of having airbases near China,and a friendly govt. to protect them. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-06-03 4:03:36 PM |
| #17 I don't think is that big a surprise, unless the South Koreans chose to ignore the signals from the US. There has been talk, for a while, of moving 2 brigades out of SK. The 12,000 troop withdrawl was proposed last year. SK has twice the population and 40 times the wealth of NK. Withdraw the rest of the troops and let them defend themselves. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-06-03 3:56:47 PM |
| #16 HAHAHAHAHAHA Don't sweat it, you've got all that "Sunshine" you've been spreading up north. Let the Dear Leader freakin have 'em. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5116 2004-06-03 2:56:11 PM |
| #15 heh it's not "american" it's "american republican" socialist 'democrats' sold their souls a long time ago |
| Posted by: dcreeper 2004-06-03 1:45:06 PM |
| #14 âthe Old Norks will be loving this news.â Removing US soldiers will just feed their paranoia. The Norks will claim the US is removing troops in preparation for a nuclear strike. Sometimes a paranoid is right, someone is out to get âem. Hehe. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5032 2004-06-03 1:38:56 PM |
| #13 Faster, please. |
| Posted by: docob 2004-06-03 1:10:11 PM |
| #12 the Old Norks will be loving this news. In my opinion troops on the ground there are only asking for death anyway with so many of Kimmies artilary peices pointing there way,we need to rule the skys with airpower in that war and controll the seas to cut his supplys not fight it out with rifles when outnumbered 1000 to 1 by Norks. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-06-03 12:03:05 PM |
| #11 moral of the story - shouldn't mix politics with national security.. |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-06-03 11:54:40 AM |
| #10 Way funny SneelenR |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-03 10:39:52 AM |
| #9 RML - if those pampered pups have no idea what their parents and grandparents went thru, shame on the older generations for not explaining it to them in detail. After all, their culture honors the elderly. They should give the elderly the benefit of the doubt that they do know what they're talking about. |
| Posted by: Anonymous2U 2004-06-03 10:24:50 AM |
| #8 "We express our full solidarity with the South Korean people, and encourage them to visit our new condominium sales office." The Vieques Island Chamber of Commerce |
| Posted by: snellenr 2004-06-03 9:17:24 AM |
| #7 Extra-ordinarily smart move. I am really impressed. The Norks are no real threat. Imagine the Norks coming across the border and finding the skors are gasp! rich! tall, well fed! have all kinds of goodies! |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-06-03 7:10:44 AM |
| #6 Here's an editorial on the subject in an english language Korean newspaper. http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/06/04/200406040012.asp This is a classic: Yes we don't like you and you are keeping us from the peacefull reunification with our norther brothers but.. don't leave. |
| Posted by: Canaveral Dan 2004-06-03 6:55:34 AM |
| #5 The ingratitude of the younger generation South Koreans has been astonishing. This slap round the head is a good start. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-06-03 5:37:49 AM |
| #4 Maybe they should have sent their own troops to Iraq, eh? |
| Posted by: someone 2004-06-03 3:06:38 AM |
| #3 Good for Rumsfeld. Having troops in SK as the "buffer" to a nutbar always seemed very unfair to our guys. Take them all out. Let SK be upclose to their extended family and see if they still feel anti-American at that point. Also, it might come as a shock to SK as to how expensive it is to maintain a military. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-03 2:42:27 AM |
| #2 So many young, extremely affluent young South Koreans, have been calling for this for quite some time. They have NO idea what their parents went through. In many ways, they're more pampered than OUR kids. Now reality sets in. You don't like us. We'll leave. Cover your own asses. |
| Posted by: RMcLeod 2004-06-03 2:23:07 AM |
| #1 [Mr. Burns] Exxxcellent. [/Mr. Burns] |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-06-03 1:24:52 AM |