Posted on 05/15/2003 11:03:17 AM PDT by xsysmgr
No to Roh
That was vintage Bush in the Rose Garden yesterday. There he stood alongside South Korean President Roh, dutifully repeating the soothing phrases crafted for such occasions – bland reassurances that we are making “good progress” toward the goal of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, etc. etc. etc. Meanwhile, the boom was being lowered on President Roh. For the real news of the summit was contained – not in President Bush’s words but in the official communiqué released at the same time. Bear with me: I know it is dull reading, but it’s very important.
“In the context of modernizing the alliance, the two leaders agreed to work out plans to consolidate U.S. forces around key hubs and to relocate the Yongsan garrison at an early date. President Bush pledged to consult closely with President Roh on the appropriate posture for USFK during the transition to a more capable and sustainable U.S. military presence on the peninsula. They shared the view that the relocation of U.S. bases north of the Han River should be pursued, taking careful account of the political, economic and security situation on the peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
Let me now translate:
U.S. forces in Korea are today concentrated near the border between North and South Korea – the famous DMZ, demilitarized zone. There they are easy targets for North Korea’s masses of old-fashioned artillery. Because they are so vulnerable, US forces are in effect hostages. If for example the US were to hit North Korea’s nuclear plants, the lives of thousands of American soldiers would be put at risk.
Which is why soft-liners like President Roh Moo-Hyun – who used to oppose the U.S. presence in South Korea – now wish to keep US troops shoved right up against the DMZ. They may they want the troops to deter North Korea – but they know full well that the vulnerability of those troops in fact deters the United States from confronting North Korea.
For the decade since North Korea’s blackmail campaign began in 1993, those 40,000 US troops on the peninsula have stayed put, under the North’s guns. Now suddenly we learn that American forces will be redeploying in the south – out of reach of the North’s guns, but close enough to be used as a striking force if need be. South of the Han River, those forces cease to be hostages, and become again dangerous and deadly fighters. Bush’s drab communiqué is the first giant step toward regaining the ability to fight effectively in Northeast Asia. After ten years of chatter, we’re getting a decisive action, and in vivid, blunt Bush trademark style. Well done.
Double Game II
US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert Jordan is taking the administration's unhappiness with Saudi security measures public - and about time. Large elements of the Saudi state are - if not actively pro-terrorist - then certainly anti-anti-terrorist. Americans need to know this - and to begin to wonder whether mere reform of the existing Saudi regime is going to be sufficient to protect US security or whether the regime itself is inherently dangerous. I like this quote from former Clinton NSC official William Wechsler: "What the Saudis have accomplished recently has been enough to prevent people from saying that they've done nothing or even next to nothing. They've done something now, and it's a good something that they've done. But 100 more of these little steps and they'll be at the minimum level of what they should be."
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
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