Shock waves in Seoul as U.S. to shift 12,000 more troops to Iraq

[conjur]

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_9.html

SEOUL ? 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 government's concern: "The realignment should not undermine our national security."

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.

The topic is likely to be the main agenda item next week, when U.S. and South Korean officials gather here for the ninth annual talks on the Future of the Alliance Policy Initiative. Ordinarily, the talks would reaffirm the position of both sides of a bright future for the U.S.-Korean alliance and firm resolutions for full cooperation.

However, it is on the sidelines of these talks, Korean officials say, that U.S. and South Korean negotiators will haggle over the U.S. proposal for the biggest reduction of forces here since the 1970s, when the U.S. withdrew a division from the country.

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."

Kim said the United States had not been expected to wind up talks on scaling back its forces in Korea for at least two more years. "The U.S. timetable is now much faster than that," he said.

The presence of the 14,000 troops in the Second Infantry Division, on the invasion route between the Demilitarized Zone and Seoul 30 miles to the South, was not needed in the new view of U.S. strategic planners.

Rather, the whole second division could move south of Seoul to the region around Pyongtaek, near Osan Air Base, about 40 miles below the capital. Local residents may have influenced the Pentagon to decide instead to transfer the 3,600 troops of the second brigade of the Second Division this summer and then to ship the rest of the division sometime next year.

The radical restructuring may have been decreed by what's called the Global Defense Posturing Review or GDR, the Pentagon's blueprint for the future of the U.S. armed forces.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Damn...you can't even come up with an original title yourself. I mean, do you have any thoughts of your own to add to this or are you just a glorified popup banner?

Anyway...this is a good thing since we aren't supposed to be the world policemen, right?

 

[Crimson]

Its about time South Korea begins defending itself.. they have the means.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Damn...you can't even come up with an original title yourself. I mean, do you have any thoughts of your own to add to this or are you just a glorified popup banner?

Anyway...this is a good thing since we aren't supposed to be the world policemen, right?

Too tired today.

 

[Spencer278]

If south korea can't defend it self from a country that can't even feed its own citiziens she deserves to get her ass kicked.

 

[kaizersose]

SK has been complaining for years about american troops. i remember seeing a picture of a store that had a sign; "american's not welcome here".

they finally got their wish and now they are complaining?

 

[Passions]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
Damn...you can't even come up with an original title yourself. I mean, do you have any thoughts of your own to add to this or are you just a glorified popup banner?

Anyway...this is a good thing since we aren't supposed to be the world policemen, right?

ROTFL!!!!!! :laugh::thumbsup:

 

[CanOWorms]

I remember a few years ago there were a lot of protests to get the US out of there, but then some incident was happening with North Korea and South Korean popular sentiment immediately flipped to supporting the US. The South Korean protestors stopped protesting against the US when NK was acting more aggressive. They just want US protection when NK gets agitated.

 

[Red Dawn]

Pulling troops out from an area where they actually faced a foe that poses a threat to our security to deploy them in an Area where the original foe never did pose a threat to our ntional security. Nice going Dub!

 

[Czar]

Hmm, same thing happened here, the US anounces that they are going to partly pull out of the military base, like removing the airplanes. They anounce this without saying a word to the icelandic gov. We remind the US of that 99 year contract we have so its all put on hold, or so they say, and so does the icelandic gov say, but meanwhile more and more icelanders are being let go from their job at the base.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Czar
Hmm, same thing happened here, the US anounces that they are going to partly pull out of the military base, like removing the airplanes. They anounce this without saying a word to the icelandic gov. We remind the US of that 99 year contract we have so its all put on hold, or so they say, and so does the icelandic gov say, but meanwhile more and more icelanders are being let go from their job at the base.

Was popular sentiment for or against the base?

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: Czar
Hmm, same thing happened here, the US anounces that they are going to partly pull out of the military base, like removing the airplanes. They anounce this without saying a word to the icelandic gov. We remind the US of that 99 year contract we have so its all put on hold, or so they say, and so does the icelandic gov say, but meanwhile more and more icelanders are being let go from their job at the base.

Was popular sentiment for or against the base?

for

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
a foe that poses a threat to our security

Says who? You? I think you're making this up to serve your anti-Asian agenda or because you have a blind lust for war!! WHERE'S YOUR PROOF THAT THEY ARE A THREAT?!?!

 

[rahvin]

Just like the Phillapines, the populace protests they want us out. The government then says they want us to leave. We pack up and leave and they cry like babies. The phillipines went so far as to demand we pay them to compensate for their loss of jobs.

We have the ability to leave these bases, I think we should locate a couple strategic bases and close all the rest. The soviet threat is gone and the cold war bases that we needed to counter that threat are no longer needed. Germany should be staffed as a medical evacuation facility in western continental asia, Okinawa should be staffed as a medical evacuation facility in eastern asia (And staff levels should be severly reduced to compensate). Other than that there is no real need for other foreign bases that can't be served by an modern naval carrier group. Bring those foreign jobs home, I'm tired of spending US taxpayer money funding large percentages of foriegn economies.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: Spencer278
If south korea can't defend it self from a country that can't even feed its own citiziens she deserves to get her ass kicked.

Originally posted by: Crimson
Its about time South Korea begins defending itself.. they have the means.

They have different priorities...the north spends all its money on military...30%+ of gdp. If you want to see korea maintain its democracy as it is today, it needs help, it can't protect itself without hindering its stability.

Do you think Taiwan should defend itself too?...How bout isreal...or columbia?
You guys have a moral obligation to your allies who have sided with you in the past for the greater good of society in the region. If you are going to push democracy on countries, you have to support them.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: Spencer278
If south korea can't defend it self from a country that can't even feed its own citiziens she deserves to get her ass kicked.

Originally posted by: Crimson
Its about time South Korea begins defending itself.. they have the means.

They have different priorities...the north spends all its money on military...30%+ of gdp. If you want to see korea maintain its democracy as it is today, it needs help, it can't protect itself without hindering its stability.

Do you think Taiwan should defend itself too?...How bout isreal...or columbia?
You guys have a moral obligation to your allies who have sided with you in the past for the greater good of society in the region. If you are going to push democracy on countries, you have to support them.

So you want us to stay there even though they routinely protest our presence?

Countries don't care about moral obligations.

 

[Stunt]

Since when have you guys listened to protesters?
There are always extremists who think a certain way doesn't mean they speak for the majority of ppl. Look at the gay marriage legislation passing around the US, even though very few in your country support it.

If you ask the average korean if they'd rather US troops at the border...or NK invading the whole country...what do you think they'd rather have?

 

[Stunt]

if countriues don't carea bout moral obligations...why iraq?...why isreal?...why bosnia?...why food aid?...

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Stunt
Since when have you guys listened to protesters?
There are always extremists who think a certain way doesn't mean they speak for the majority of ppl. Look at the gay marriage legislation passing around the US, even though very few in your country support it.

If you ask the average korean if they'd rather US troops at the border...or NK invading the whole country...what do you think they'd rather have?

It depends on when you ask them. If you ask when NK isn't rattling any sabers, then they want the US out. If it's when NK is agitated, they want the US there.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: Stunt
if countriues don't carea bout moral obligations...why iraq?...why isreal?...why bosnia?...why food aid?...

Are you serious? Political, economic, etc. reasons. If a country isn't going to get anything out of something, they most likely won't do it.

Anyways, I personlly don't think the US has any obligation to South Korea.

 

[K1052]

MIRV keeps North Korea out of South Korea. North Korea knows that the only possible response to a full scale attack is at least a limited nuclear retaliation becase it is very clear that the U.S. and South Korean forces would be quickly overwhelmed.

 

[Stunt]

If they didnt have an obligation, they wouldn't be there...US already say they are low on troops.
The US has a lot invested in korea, with respect to infrastucture and money. So think of how much they will get back with NK occupying them

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Stunt
if countriues don't carea bout moral obligations...why iraq?...why isreal?...why bosnia?...why food aid?...

I love being preached at by Canadians who enjoy the benefits and umbrella of our policies while at the same time criticizing them. :beer:

 

[Stunt]

We have troops in Bosnia, and Afganistan.
We uphold our side of moral obligations...just we go after peacekeeping operations not invasions.
Korea is your obligation as they are your ally, we weren't involved with the korean war.

And how are we under the umbrella of your policy/benifits?

 

[wkabel23]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: Stunt
if countriues don't carea bout moral obligations...why iraq?...why isreal?...why bosnia?...why food aid?...

I love being preached at by Canadians who enjoy the benefits and umbrella of our policies while at the same time criticizing them. :beer:

Way to ignore the point of his post :roll: