Why our troops are in South Korea. NOT why you may think.

[Cell Whitman]

I am kind of new here... I thought I would share this from a couple years ago which I emailed and posted some places at the time....

As I am sure you know, our military has been in South Korea since the Korean War to serve as a "trip wire." That is, our troops presence put North Korea on notice that should they attack South Korea, they would have to fight South Korea's big brother, the United States.

Before the BBC changed formats in 2004, I was regular listener to their program East Asia Today.

One show, about mid 2003, they were interviewing several people in the region about Paul Wolfowitz's trip to Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Everyone knew that Wolfowitz was there to discuss the status of troops in South Korea and the region. With the expected need for troops in Iraq, the rumor was that Wolfowitz might announce the USA was going to pull ALL troops from South Korea.

During the BBC program, they were giving the opinions of the general population on the subject and said that many people were strongly against any troop withdrawal. Not unexpected, but the reason they gave surprised me. Seems that many people's biggest fear was that since Bush invaded Iraq, was calling countries "axis of evils" ...their biggest fear was that BUSH would start dropping bombs on North Korea as soon as the troops left. Many of them thought that if the troops weren't there, Bush would be MORE likely to ignite a war since our ground troops would be out of harms way -

do you understand?

They were saying the United States of America's military was deployed in Korea to protect the Korean's, all Koreans, FROM BUSH.

What ya think about them apples?


http://cellwhitman.blogspot.com/

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Which no doubt makes them very nervous about the

redeployment of US troops away from the DMZ -- now they are no longer a trip wire, nor are they vulnerable to retaliatory attacks.

[Cell Whitman]

3. They discussed moving them back from the 38th

in that show and agreed with you that it gave * some breathing room. The troops are still in the country though and remain a bit of trip wire wouldn't you say? Just not on as much of a hair trigger.




Who IS driving the bus?

[chookie]

2. interesting

That would offer an explanation as to NK making their "dramatic announcement" that they have nuclear weapons for defence against the USA today. By bringing attention to themselves as a "threat", they make it hard for Bush to pull out of Korea -- and then to bomb the shit out of the place.

Korea seems to understand they WILL be bombed; by playing the nuke card, they more than buy time for themselves. Forces Bush into stalemate.

[Skeptic_All]

4. Not sure if this was a tongue-in-cheek statement

or not. If it wasn't, then I'd dare say it was one of the more inane comments I've heard during a discussion of why we have close to 40,000 American service members in Korea. Since American troops have been on the ground in Korea since 1950, one must be clairvoyant to conclude that they have remained solely for the purpose of stymieing any aggression by Bush.

Having spent a year in Korea, working quite close with the South Korean military, I could almost suggest that we are in South Korea to protect North Korea from their southern cousins! From many of my conversations with South Korean soldiers, they would have loved nothing more than a good old dust up with their brethren from the north!

[Cell Whitman]

6. to clarify the statement

They were saying the United States of America's military was deployed in Korea to protect the Korean's, all Koreans, FROM BUSH.

It was the essence of what some of the people they were quoting said. No one just said "thank God the US army will stop Bush!"

I guess you would say it is a 'tongue in cheek' expression of their real thinking. I didn't mean to imply that it was the only belief these people had, nor that everyone had the same view. The 'trip wire' is what comes to most people's minds, but this view was expressed.

I agree with it, in that it has as much meaning as the other with * in office. I do have a slight disagreement with their thinking. I believe they are wrong if they think it would stop him. Might slow him, but it won't stop him.

From many of my conversations with South Korean soldiers, they would have loved nothing more than a good old dust up with their brethren from the north!

heh, I am sure that is the case. When were you there? I understand the polls in SK show most didn't care for us at the time of the BBC broadcast. That puts them in the camp with most countries now.

[Igel]

5. Quite a few people are convinced that North Korea is the

personification of good. They're young; they didn't live through the Korean War, and refuse to believe evil of their fellow Koreans. It's all a bluff.

Then again, we refused to think bad of Germany for quite a while, and Stalin had many defenders until fairly late. Even in the late '70s a lecture where a scholar claiming 30-some million killed by Stalin was protested, and the student paper said he was greatly exaggerating because he had an irrational hated of the Soviet Union.

Some people refuse to believe others are really bad. For some reason it happens most egregiously when the gun's pointed at them.