I was at Camp Red Cloud, Korea on 18Aug76 when some of our men were attacked and murdered by the DPRK at the JSA. This was at the tail end of the Viet Nam war and certainly the US wasn't looking forward to another conflict. Here was our reaction.
---Operation Paul Bunyan was carried out on August 21 at 7 AM, just three days after the killings. A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles (‘Task Force Vierra’, named for Lieutenant Colonel Victor S. Vierra, commander of the United States Army Support Group) drove into the JSA without any warning to the North Koreans, who only had one observation post manned at the early hour. In the vehicles were two eight-man engineer teams (from the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division) equipped with chain saws to cut down the tree. The engineer teams were accompanied by two 30-man security platoons from the Joint Security Force armed with pistols and axe handles. The 2nd Platoon would secure the northern entrance to the JSA by the “Bridge of No Return”, while the 3rd Platoon would secure the southern edge of the area.
In addition, a 64 man ROK special forces company accompanied them, armed with clubs and trained in Tae Kwon Do, supposedly without firearms. However, once they parked their trucks near the Bridge of No Return, they started throwing out the sandbags that lined the truck bottoms, and handing out M-16 rifles and M-79 grenade launchers that had been concealed below. Several of the special forces men also had Claymore mines strapped to their chests with the firing mechanism in their hands, and were shouting at the North Koreans to cross the bridge.[6] [7]
A U.S. infantry company in 20 utility helicopters and 7 Cobra attack helicopters circled behind them. Behind these helicopters B-52 bombers, escorted by U.S. F-4 fighters and ROK F-5 fighters were visible flying across the sky at high altitude. At Osan Air Base, F-111 fighters had been armed and fueled, ready to take off at short notice. The Midway aircraft carrier task force had also been moved to be stationed just off-shore. In addition, near the edges of the DMZ, many more heavily armed U.S. and ROK infantry, artillery, and armor were waiting to back up the special operations team. The bases near the DMZ were prepared for demolition in the case of a military response.
Altogether, Task Force Vierra consisted of 813 men, almost all of the men of the United States Army Support Group, of which the Joint Security Force was a part, a ROK reconnaissance company, a ROK Special Forces company which had infiltrated the river area by the bridge the night before, and members of a reinforced composite rifle company from the 9th Infantry Regiment. In addition to this force, every UNC force in the rest of South Korea was on full battle alert with all weapons loaded, ready to fire if needed.---
Thank you for the history of that incident-it sounds fascinating and a credit to the US armed forces. I hadn't heard of this incident before and am very sorry that you lost men. I hope you didn't think I was underestimating the immense courage and determination of the U.S. armed forces. I know they have never backed down from a challenge.
I think that we're in a quandry with regards to Iran, however. Iran has undoubtedly been involved in insurgent activity in Iraq and more overt provocation such as personnel seizures. However, I don't think that the Coalition of the Willing is politically ready for a full-scale war with Iran. Futhermore, a general military push into Iran itself would probably require equal or greater troops numbers as that required for Iraq in 2003. It would take several weeks for U.S./Coalition forces to prepare for an extended campaign. I believe, in this regard, that limited airstrikes on Iran are most likely if push comes to shove quickly. These may (like they did in Kosovo) just bolster domestic support for Ahmadinejad. I think that the difficult position that we find ourselves in with regards to Iran is reflected in our Rules of Engagement, which are de-escalatory.
Hopefully, these British troops will be released soon and the incident is just another example of Iranian posturing. The British government is taking a firm line, however I don't know how many military options are available to us now that the personnel have apparently been transferred to Tehran. The British military has a good record on hostage rescue, but it may be impossible.
Talking of historical precedent, have you heard of Operation Barras in 2000? It was a British mission to rescue members of the Royal Irish Rangers taken hostage by several hundred members of the brutal West Side Boys Militia in Sierra Leonne. These men were being held in dense jungle. The British special forces and parachute regiment managed to achieve total suprise in attacking the rebel base. They rescued all of the hostages and decimated the militia whilst suffering, sadly, 1 KIA and several wounded. It is an interesting incident as it has achieved very little press coverage etc, depite arguably being a harder operation to pull off than the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980. Heres a link if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barras